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THE  VARIATION 

OF 

ANIMALS  AND  PLANTS 

UNDER  DOMESTICATION. 

BY 

CHARLES  DARWIN",  M.A.,  F.R.S.,  &c. 

AUTHORIZED  EDITION,  WITH  A  PEEFACE 

BY 
3PROFESSOR     JLSA.     &EAY. 

IN  TWO  VOLUMES.     VOL.  I. 
(Stitlj  Illustrations. 


NEW-YORK; 

ORANGE    JUDD     &    COMPANY, 

245     BROADWAY. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18G3,  by 

ORANGE   JUDD   &    COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of   the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New-York. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


An  edition  of  this  book  was  reprinted  immediately 
after  its  first  publication,  and  I  thus  had  the  opportu- 
nity of  inserting  various  corrections  and  some  important 
additions.  These  are  included  in  the  present  American 
edition,  together  with  some  new  corrections.  It  is  a 
great  gratification  to  me  that  my  wrork  should  be  thought 
worthy  of  republication  in  the  United  States,  which  con- 
tains so  large  a  body  of  intelligent  readers.  The  details 
given  in  the  first  volume  will  probably  be  too  numerous 
and  minute  for  most  readers;  but  they  appeared  to  me 
worth  publishing,  as  different  persons  might  be  interested 
in  different  classes  of  animals  and  plants  ;  and  the  facts 
taken  together  shew  in  the  clearest  manner  how  largely 
organic  beings  vary  when  subjected  to  domestication.  I 
venture  to  call  the  reader's  attention  to  the  chapter  on 
Pangenesis.  The  view  there  propounded  is  simply  hypo- 
thetical, but  it  has  appeared  to  me,  and  I  have  the  satis- 
faction to  know  that  it  has  likewise  thus  appeared  to 
some  capable  judges  in  England,  to  be  no  small  gain  to 
seize  on  a  material  bond,  by  which  the  various  forms  of 
reproduction,  inheritance,  development,  etc..  can  be  con- 
nected together.  We  thus  get  rid  of  such  vague  terms 
as  spermatic  force,  the  vivification  of  the  ovule,  sexual 
potentiality,  and  the  diffusion  of  mysterious  essences  or 
properties  from  either  parent,  or  from  both,  to  the  child. 
Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  conclusions  at  which  I 
have  arrived  on  various  points,  I  hope  that  the  student 
will  find  my  work  of  use,  as  giving  to  him  a  larger  body 
of  methodically  arranged  facts  on  certain  subjects  than 
can  be  found,  as  I  believe,  in  any  other  work. 

Charles  Darwin. 

Down  Bromley,  Kent,  March  28,  1868. 


ADDITIONS   AND    CORRECTIONS. 


Publishers'  Note  to  the  Reader. — The  first  English  edition 
of  this  work  was  taken  up  at  once,  and  a  second  called  for.  In 
the  reprint  Mr.  Darwin  made  a  number  of  changes  and  correc- 
tions, and  sent  us  the  advance  sheets  containing  them.  He  also  has 
given  us  a  number  of  manuscript  corrections  which  do  not  even 
appear  in  the  latest  English  reprint.  If  the  reader  will  mark  the 
passages  indicated  below,  he  will  have  his  copy  revised  up  to  the 
author's  latest  views.  These  corrections,  as  well  as  Mr.  Darwin's 
preface,  were  received  after  the  book  was  printed ;  and  we  were 
obliged,  by  force  of  circumstances,  to  insert  both  in  extra  pages. 

CORRECTIONS    TO    VOL.    I. 

Page  86,  and  wherever  Sus  Indica  occurs,  read  8us  Indicus. 

Page  104,  16  lines  from  top.  Instead  of  "  It  has  been  found  in 
England  associated  with  the  remains  of  the  elephant  and  rhino- 
ceros," read  "It  apparently  did  not  exist  in  England  before  the 
Neolithic  period,  though  a  greater  age  was  formerly  assigned  to  it." 

Page  104,  2d  line  from  bottom.  After  B.  longifron.8  add,  "  and 
according  to  Mr.  Boyd  Dawkins  is  identical  with  it." 

Page  104,  foot-note  40.  Strike  out  reference  to  Owen,  British 
Mammalia,  and  insert  "  Mr.  Boyd  Dawkins  on  the  British  Fossil 
Oxen,  '  Journal  of  the  Geol.  Soc'  Aug.  1867,  p.  182." 

Page  127,  2d  line  from  bottom.  For  "  during  the  early  stone 
period,"  read  "  during  the  early  part  of  the  Neolithic  period." 

Paw  200,  foot-note  35.  Strike  out  that  part  of  the  note  begin- 
ning "  but  it  is  stated,"  and  ending  with  "  than  in  the  female.  " 

Page  223,  12  lines  from  top.  For  {Dendroeygna  mduata)  read 
{Anas  mosrJtata). 

Page  351,  18  lines  from  top.  After  word  "  strain  "  insert  "  Again, 
Mr.  T.  Jenner  Wier  informs  me  that  a  peacock  at  Blackheath, 
whilst  young,  was  white,  but  as  it  became  older  it  assumed  the  cha- 
racter of  the  black-shouldered  variety ;  both  its  parents  were  com- 
mon peacocks.    Here  we  have  six  distinct  cases,"  etc. 

Page  352,  9  lines  from  top.  For  "  as  it  did  to  Sir  R.  Heron,  to  pre- 
ponderate strongly  in  favour,"  read  "  evidence  seems  to  me  to  be 
decisive  in  favour  of  the  black-shouldered,"  etc. 

Page  355,  8  lines  from  top.  For  "  by  naturalists,"  read  "  by  some 
naturalists." 

Page  475, 19  lines  from  bottom.  Insert,  after  "  no  success,"  "  but 
Dr.  Hildebrand  informs  me,  in  a  letter  dated  Jan.  2d,  1868,  that  he 
has  recently  succeeded  with  the  potato.  He  removed  all  the  eyes 
from  a  white,  smooth-skinned  potato,  and  all  from  a  red,  scaly  po- 
tato, and  inserted  them  reciprocally  into  each  other.  From  these 
eyes  he  raised  only  two  plants  ;  and  of  the  tubers  formed  by  them 
two  were  red  and  scaly  at  one  end,  and  white  and  smooth-skinned 
at  the  other;  the  middle  part  being  white  with  red  streaks.  Hence 
the  possibility  of  a  graft  hybrid  may  be  looked  at  as  established." 


ADDITIONS     AND     CORRECTIONS.  Ill 

j  Mr  Darwin  states  that  this  case  of  Dr.  Hildebrand  has  modified 
his  belief  iu  the  possibility  of  making  a  graft  hybrid. — Pub.] 

Page  475>  18  lines  from  bottom.  After  "  instance  known  to  me," 
insert  "  (with  the  exception  of  the  case  just  given)." 

Page  4?f>,  13  lines  from  bottom.  Strike  out  all  of  the  sentence 
after  "  above  described." 

Page  480.  To  foot-note  126  add  :  "  Dr.  Hildebrand,  of  Bonn,  in 
a  letter  dated  Jan.  2,  1868,  informs  me  that  he  has  recently  crossed 
yellow  ami  red  maize  and  obtained  the  same  results  as  Dr.  Sovi, 
with  the  important  addition,  that  in  one  case  the  axis  which  sup- 
ports the  seeds  was  stained  of  a  brownish  color;  Dr.  Hildebrand 
also  gives  me  some  striking  cases  with  respect  to  the  apple-tree, 
like  those  recorded  further  on.  These  valuable  facts  will  soon  be 
recorded  in  the  '  Bot.  Zeitung.'  " 

Page  485.  Add  to  foot-note  :  "  Dr.  Bower  bank  has  given  us  the 
following  striking  case  : — A  black,  hairless  Barbary  bitch  was  first 
impregnated  by  a  mongrel  spaniel  with  long  brown  hair,  and  she 
produced  five  puppies,  three  of  which  were  hairless  and  two  cov- 
ered with  stiiort  brown  hair.  The  next  time  she  was  put  to  a  full 
black,  hairless  Barbary  dog  ;  but  the  mischief  had  been  implanted 
in  the  mother,  and  again  about  half  the  litter  looked  like  pure 
Barbarys,  and  the  other  half  like  the  s/wMiaired  progeny  of  the 
first  father.'' 

Page  486,  5  lines  from  bottom.  For  "  There  is  a  considerable  but 
insufficient  body  of  evidence,"  read  "  There  is  sufficient  evidence." 

CORRECTIONS  TO  VOL.  II. 

Page  25.  To  the  paragraph  ending  with  "operated  on,"  add 
"  since  the  publication  of  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  I  have  re- 
ceived an  account  of  another  instance  of  the  regrowth  of  a  super- 
numerary digit." 

Page  32,  5  lines  from  bottom.     For  "  73  "  insert  "  72." 

Page  56,  2d  paragraph.  After  "  always  produced,"  add  "  I  hear 
from  Mr.  Blyth  that  the  hybrids  from  the  canary  and  goldfinch  al- 
most invariably  have  streaked  feathers  on  their  backs  ;  and  this 
streaking  must  be  derived  from  the  aboriginal  wild  canary." 

Page  88,  14  lines  from  top.  For  "  (Tadnora  dEgyptiac/i),"  read 
"  (Anser  JEgypUobcus)." 

Page  170,  6  lines  from  top.  After  "  P.  edvMs,"  insert  "  In  a  third 
instance,  however.  P.  quadrangularis  fruited  freely,  when  arti- 
ficially fertilized  with  its  own  pollen." 

Pasje  184,  5  lines  from  top.  Erase  all  of  the  sentence  after  "  tur- 
key," and  add  "and  fowl   are   kept  and   bred  by  various  remote 

tribes." 

Page  221,  2d  line  from  bottom.  Strike  out  all  the  sentence  after 
"  result,"  and  insert  "  so  the  same  tiling  occurs  with  trimorphic 
plants:  for  instance,  the  mid-styled  form  of  Lyth/rwm  salicnrin 
could  lie  illegitimately  fertilized  with  the  greatest  ease  by  pollen 
from  tlie  longer  stamens  of  the  short-stvled  firm,  and  yielded  many 
Bee  Is,  but  tbe  latter  form  did  not  yield  a  single  seed  when  fertilized 
by  the  longer  stamens  of  the  mid-styled  form." 

Page  341, 342,  and  wherever  "  Lncaze  Duthiers  "  occurs,  read  "  Lo- 
cate," and  alter  the  same  in  tin*  index. 


IV  ADDITIONS     AND     CORRECTIONS. 

Page  438,  3d  line  from  bottom.  Strike  out  all  of  the  sentence 
aft  t  "  amputation,"  and  insert  "  how  it  comes  that  organic  beings 
identical  in  every  respect  are  habitually  produced  by  such  widely 
different  processes  as  budding  and  true  seminal  generation." 

Page  431,  11  lines  from  bottom.  After  "  nature,"  add  "and  in 
the  case  of  Daphnia,  Sir  J.  Lubbock  first  showed  that  ova  and 
pseud-ova  are  identical  in  structure." 

Page  431,  foot-note  5.     For  "  Cecydomyide  "  read  "  Cecidomyde.'' 

Page  437,  paragraph  Graft-hybrids.  In  the  2d  line  of  the 
para  rraph,  cut  out  after  OytisUD  adami  and  make  it  read  "  OytlSUS 
adami,  it  was  shown  that,  after  the  tissues  of  two  plants,"  etc.  In 
t!ic  sixth  line  of  paragraph,  for  "  are  intimately  united,"  read  ."  have 
become  intimately  united."  In  the  8th  line,  "it  is  certain," 
should  read  "it  is  also  certain."  The  closing  sentence  of  the  para- 
graph, "  Should  it  ever  be  proved,"  etc.,  is  to  be  modified  to  read. 
"  The  possibility  of  the  production  of  hybridized  buds  by  the  union 
of  two  distinctive  vegetative  tissues  is  an  important  fact,  as  it  shows 
us  that  sexual  and  asexual  production  are  essentially  the  same  :  for 
the  power,"  etc. 

Page  442,  bottom  line.  For  "  inserted  into  the  eye,"  read  "  inserted 
into  the  ear  of  an  ox,  lived  for  eight  years,  and  acquired,  according  to 
Prof.  Mantegazza, M  a  weight  of  396  grammes,  and  the  astonishing 
length  of  24  centimetres,  or  about  9  English  incites;  so  that  the 
head  of  the  ox  appeared  to  bear  three  horns." 

Page  44:;.  For  foot-note  22,  substitute  "  Degli  innesti  animali,  etc. 
Milano,  1865,  p.  51,  Tab.  3." 

Page  449,  5th  line  from  top.  Strike  out  the  sentence  beginning 
"  Nearly  similar  views,"  and  insert  "  Views  in  some  respects  similar 
have  been  propounded,  as  I  find  by  other  authors." 

Page  453,  3d  line  from  bottom.  For  "  4,872,000,"  read  "  6,807, 
840." 

Pago  453.  Cancel  the  foot-note  34,  as  far  as  the  word  "  Harrner," 
ami  insert  "  Mr.  F.  Buckland  carefully  calctrlated,  by  weighing,  the 
above  number  of  ee-o-s  in  a  codfish  ;  see  '  Land  and  Water,'  1868,  p. 
62.     In  a  previous  instance  he  found  the  number  to  be  4,873,000." 

Paoje  463,  17  lines  from  top.  Strike  out  the  paragraph  be- 
ginning  "It  was  shown,"  and  substitute  the  following:  "As  by 
our  hypothesis  budding  or  fission  differs  from  seminal  generation 
only  in  the  manner  in  which  the  gemmules  are  first  aggregated,  we 
can  understand  the  possibility  of  the  formation  of  graft  hybrids,  and 
these  graft-hybrids,  which  combine  the  character  of  the  two  forms 
of  which  the  tissues  have  become  united,  connect  in  the  closest  and 
most  interesting  manner  gemmation  and  sexual  reproduction." 

Page  518,  16  lines  from  top.     "Anas  moschata,"  add  "  i.,  p.  233." 

Page  522.  After  "  Bowen,  Prof.,"  insert  "  Bowerbank,  Dr.,  on 
the  effects  of  a  first  impregnation,  i.,  p.  485." 

Page  5:J0.    Dendrocygna  viduata,  strike  out  reference  to  vol.  i. 

Page  539.  After  "Hildebrand,  Dr.,"  insert  "on  graft  hybrids 
with  the  potato,  L,  p.  475.  On  the  influence  of  the  pollen  on  the 
mother  plant,  i.,  p.  480." 

Page  550.  Under  "  Owen,  Prof.  R.,"  strike  out  reference  to  Bos 
longifrons. 

Paffe  562.     For  "  Sus  Indica  "  read  "  Sus  Iiulicus." 


PREFACE  TO  THE  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


This  work  is  here  reprinted  from  the  English  edi- 
tion, under  an  arrangement  with  the  author,  upon  the 
recommendation  of  the  subscriber.  It  is  a  perfect  trea- 
sury of  facts  relative  to  domesticated  animals  and  some 
of  the  more  important  cultivated  plants  ;  of  the  princi- 
ples which  govern  the  production,  improvement,  and 
preservation  of  breeds  and  races  ;  of  the  laws  of  inheri- 
tance, upon  which  all  origination  of  improved  varieties 
depends  ;  of  the  ill  effects  of  breeding  in-and-in,  neces- 
sary though  this  be  to  the  full  development  and  perpetu- 
ation of  a  choice  race  or  breed,  and  of  the  good  effects  of 
an  occasional  cross,  by  which,  rightly  managed,  a  breed 
may  be  invigorated  or  improved.  These  and  various 
kindred  subjects  are  discussed  scientifically,  with  rare 
ability,  acuteness,  and  impartiality,  by  one  who  has  de- 
voted most  of  his  life  to  this  class  of  inquiries,  and  who 
discusses  them  in  a  way  and  style  equally  interesting 
and  instructive  to  the  professional  naturalist  or  phy- 
siologist and  to  the  general  reader.  To  the  intelligent 
agriculturist  and  breeder,  these  volumes  will  be  especi- 
ally valuable,  and  it  is  in  the  interest  of  such  practical 
men  and  amateurs  that  they  are  here  reprinted. 


IV         '  PREFACE. 

The  subject  is,  of  course,  connected  with  the  theory 
which  has  made .  Mr.  Darwin's  name  so  famous ;  a 
theory  which,  extending  the  application  and  range  of 
these  facts  into  past  ages,  regards  the  present  species  of 
plants  and  animals  as  older  and  stronger- marked  varie- 
ties, originated  under  a  natural  selection  of  the  sorts  best 
adapted  to  the  circumstances  and  conditions  of  each  place 
and  time,  in  a  way  which  may  fairly  be  compared  with 
the  development  of  our  domesticated  animals  and  plants 
under  artificial  selection  and  care.  .  It  was  the  study  of 
domesticated  races  that  suggested  the  theory.  Whether 
that  stand  or  fall,  the  facts  in  respect  to  breeds  and 
races,  which  are  here  so  faithfully  collected  and  discuss- 
ed, are  none  the  worse  for  having  served  as  the  basis 
of  ingenious  speculations  ;  and  they  have  an  interest  of 
their  own,  irrespective  of  all  such  theories,  as  well  as  a 
practical  importance  which  should  commend  them  to 
general  attention.  The  curious  speculations  toward  the 
close  of  the  second  volume,  upon  the  way  in  which 
peculiarities  may  be  supposed  to  be  transmitted  from 
parents  to  offspring,  or  from  grandparents  to  a  second 
or  later  generation  and  the  like,  are  entirely  independent 
of  the  Darwinian  theory. 

The  English  edition  being  quite  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  majority  of  readers  in  this  country,  the  publishers 
of  The  American  Agriculturist  have  done  well  in  mak- 
ing these  volumes  generally  accessible. 

A".  Gray. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  March,  1868. 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    I. 

INTRODUCTION         Page  1 1 

CHAPTER    I. 

DOMESTIC   DOGS   AND   CATS. 

ANCIENT    VARIETIES    OF    THE    DOG RESEMBLANCE    OF     DOMESTIC     DOGS     IN 

VARIOUS     COUNTRIES    TO    NATIVE     CANINE    SPECIES  —  ANIMALS     NOT    AC- 

QI'AINTED    WITH    MAN    AT    FIRST    FEARLESS DOGS    RESEMBLING    WOLVES 

AND    JACKALS HABIT    OF    BARKING    ACQUIRED    AND    LOST FERAL    DOGS 

TAN-COLOURED  EYE-SPOTS PERIOD  OF  GESTATION  —  OFFENSIVE  ODOUR 

FERTILITY  OF  THE  RACES  WHEN  CROSSED DIFFERENCES  IN  THE  SEV- 
ERAL RACES  IN  PART  DUE  TO  DESCENT  FROM  DISTINCT  SPECIES  — DIF- 
FERENCES   IN    THE    SKULL    AND    TEETH DIFFERENCES    IN    THE    BODY,    IN 

CONSTITUTION FEW     IMPORTANT     DIFFERENCES     HAVE     BEEN     FIXED     BY 

SELECTION DIRECT  ACTION  OF   CLIMATE WATER-DOGS   WITH    PALMATED 

FEET — HISTORY  OF  TOE  CHANGES  WHICH  CERTAIN  ENGLISH  RACES  OF 
THE  DOG  HATS  GRADUALLY  UNDERGONE  THROUGH  SELECTION EXTINC- 
TION   OF    THE    LESS    IMPROYED    SUB-BREEDS. 

CATS,    CROSSED   WITH    SEYERAL    SPECIES DIFFERENT  BREEDS    FOUND    ONLY 

IN    SEPARATED  COUNTRIES DIRECT  EFFECTS  OF    THE  CONDITIONS   OF    LIFE 

FERAL    CATS  —  INDIVIDUAL    VARIABILITY  27 

CHAPTER     II. 

HORSES  AND  ASSES. 

HORSE. — DIFFERENCES    IN    THE    BREEDS INDIVIDUAL    VARIABILITY    OF  — 

DIRECT    EFFECTS    OF    THE    CONDITIONS    OF   LIFE CAN    WITHSTAND    MUCH 

<  OLD BREEDS      MUCH      MODIFIED      BY      SELECTION COLOURS      OF      THE 

HOUSE  —  DAPPLING DARK    STRIPES     ON    THE    SPINE,    LECS,    SHOULDERS, 

AND    FOREHEAD  —  DUN-COLOURED    HORSES    MOST    FREQUENTLY    STRIPED 

STRIPES  PROBABLY  DUE  TO  REVERSION  TO  THE  PRIMITIVE  STATE  OF  THE 
HORSE. 

ASSES. BREEDS      OF COLOUR     OF LEG-    AND     SHOULDER-    STRIPES 

SHOULDER-STRIPES    SOMETIMES    ABSENT,    SOMETIMES    FORKED       .  .       .  .  66 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    III. 

PIGS  —  CATTLE  —  SHEEP  —  GOATS. 

PIGS   BELONG    TO   TWO   DISTINCT    TYPES,    SUS    SCROFA    AND    INDICA TORF- 

SCHWEIN JAPAN     PIG FERTILITY     OF     CROSSED     PIGS CHANGES     IN 

THE     SKULL     OF     THE     HIGHLY     CULTIVATED     RACES CONVERGENCE     OF 

CHARACTER GESTATION  —  SOLID-HOOFED  SWINE CURIOUS  APPENDAGES 

TO  THE  JAWS  —  DECREASE  IN  SIZE  OF  THE  TUSKS YOUNG  PIGS  LONGI- 
TUDINALLY   STRIPED  —  FERAL   PIGS CROSSED   BREEDS. 

CATTLE. ZEBU  A  DISTINCT  SPECIES EUROPEAN  CATTLE  PROBABLY  DE- 
SCENDED    FROM     THREE    WILD     FORMS ALL    THE     RACES     NOW    FERTILE 

TOGETHER BRITISH  PARK  CATTLE ON  THE  COLOUR  OF  THE  ABO- 
RIGINAL     SPECIES CONSTITUTIONAL      DIFFERENCES SOUTH      AFRICAN 

RACES SOUTH    AMERICAN    RACES NIATA     CATTLE ORIGIN     OF     THE 

VARIOUS    RACES    OF    CATTLE. 

SHEEP. REMARKABLE    RACES    OF VARIATIONS    ATTACHED    TO    TOE    MALE 

SEX ADAPTATIONS  TO  VARIOUS  CONDITIONS GESTATION  OF CHANGES 

IN    THE   WOOL SEMI-MONSTROUS    BREEDS. 

GOATS. REMARKABLE   VARIATIONS    OF     .  .       .  ^ 85 

CHAPTER     IV. 

DOMESTIC  RABBITS. 

DOMESTIC    RABBITS   DESCENDED   FROM    THE  COMMON    WILD  RABBIT ANCIENT 

DOMESTICATION ANCIENT     SELECTION LARGE     LOP-EARED     RABBITS 

VARIOUS  BREEDS FLUCTUATING  CHARACTERS ORIGIN  OF  THE  HIMA- 
LAYAN    BREED CURIOUS    CASE    OF     INHERITANCE FERAL     RABBITS    IN 

JAMAICA    AND   THE     FALKLAND    ISLANDS PORTO    SANTO    FERAL     RABBITS 

OSTEOLOGICAL    CHARACTERS  —  SKULL SKULL    OF    HALF-LOP    RABBITS 

VARIATIONS  IN  THE  SKULL  ANALOGOUS  TO  DIFFERENCES  IN  DIFFER- 
ENT   SPECIES    OF     HARES VERTEBRAE STERNUM SCAPULA EFFECTS 

OF    USE    AND    DISUSE    ON    THE    PROPORTIONS    OF    THE    LIMBS    AND    BODY 

CAPACITY    OF    THE    SKULL    AND  REDUCED   SIZE    OF   THE    BRAIN SUMMARY 

ON   THE   MODIFICATIONS   OF    DOMESTICATED    RABBITS 130 

CHAPTER     V. 

DOMESTIC   PIGEONS. 

ENUMERATION     AND    DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    SEVERAL     BREEDS .INDIVIDUAL 

VARIABILITY VARIATIONS   OF    A    REMARKABLE    NATURE OSTEOLOGICAL 

CHARACTERS !  SKULL,  LOWER  JAW,  NUMBER  OF  VERTEBRA CORRELA- 
TION   OF    GROWTH:     TONGUE    WITH    BEAK:     EYELIDS    AND    NOSTRILS    WITH 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

WATTLED    SKIN' NUMBER    OF    WING-FEATHERS,    AND    LENGTH    OF      WING 

COLOUR    AND    DOWN WEBBED    AND    FEATHERED    FEET ON    THE    EF- 
FECTS   OF   DISCSE LENGTH   OF    FEET    IN    CORRELATION   WITH    LENGTH    OF 

BEAK LENGTH     OF      STERNUM,    SCAPULA,     AND     FURCULA LENGTH     OF 

WINGS SUMMARY    ON     THE     POINTS    OF     DIFFERENCE     IN     THE     SEVERAL 

BREEDS        16S 

CHAPTER    VI: 

PIGEONS— continued. 

ON    THE    ABORIGINAL     PARENT-STOCK    OF    THE    SEVERAL    DOMESTIC    RACES 

HABITS  OF  LIFE WILD   RACES   OF   THE  ROCK-PIGEOX DOVECOT    PIGEONS 

PROOFS    OF     THE     DESCENT    OF     THE     SEVERAL     RACES     FROM     COLUMBA 

LIVIA FERTILITY    OF    THE    RACES    WHEN    CROSSED REVERSION    TO    THE 

PLUMAGE   OF    THE   WILD    ROCK-PIGEON CIRCUMSTANCES    FAVOURABLE    TO 

THE     FORMATION     OF     THE     RACES ANTIQUITY     AND     HISTORY     OF     THE 

PRINCIPAL     RACES MANNER    OF    THEIR     FORMATION SELECTION UN- 
CONSCIOUS  SELECTION CARE    TAKEN    BY    FANCIERS    IN    SELECTING    THEIR 

BIRDS SLIGHTLY    DIFFERENT    STRAINS    GRADUALLY    CHANGE    INTO    WELL- 
MARKED       BREEDS EXTINCTION      OF      INTERMEDIATE      FORMS CERTAIN 

BREEDS  REMAIN  PERMANENT,  WHILST  OTHERS  CHANGE SUMMARY  .  .       221 

CHAPTER    VII. 

FOWLS. 

BRIEF    DESCRIPTIONS    OF    TOE    CHIEF    BREEDS ARGUMENTS    IN    FAVOUR    OF 

THEIR    DESCENT     FROM     SEVERAL     SPECIES ARGUMENTS     IN     FAVOUR    OF 

ALL    THE    BREEDS    HAVING    DESCENDED    FROM    GALLUS    BANKIVA REVER- 
SION    TO     THE     PARENT-STOCK     IN     COLOUR ANALOGOUS     VARIATIONS 

ANCIENT     HISTORY     OF     THE     FOWL EXTERNAL     DIFFERENCES     BETWEEN 

THE    SEVERAL     BREEDS EGGS CHICKENS SECONDARY    SEXUAL     CHA- 
RACTERS  WING-     AND      TAIL-      FEATHERS,       VOICE,       DISPOSITION,      ETC. 

'  OSTEOLOGICAL     DIFFERENCES     IN     THE     SKULL,    VERTEBRA,     ETC. EF- 
FECTS    OF      USE      AND     DISUSE     OF      CERTAIN      PARTS CORRELATION      OF 

GROWTH 273 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

DUCKS  —  GOOSE  —  PEACOCK  —  TURKEY  —  GUIXEA-FOWL  — 
CANARY-BIRD  —  GOLD-FISH  —  IIIYE-BEES  —  SILK-MOTHS. 

DUCKS,    SEVERAL      BREEDS     OF PROGRESS    OF     DOMESTICATION ORIGIN 

OF,    FROM     THE    COMMON    WILD-DUCK DIFFERENCES    IN     THE      DIFFERENT 


VJ11  CONTENTS. 

BREEDS 05TE0L0GICAL  DIFFERENCES EFFECTS  OF  USE  AND  DIS- 
USE   ON    THE    LIMB-BONES. 

GOOSE,    ANCIENTLY    DOMESTICATED LITTLE    VARIATION    OF SEBASTAPOL 

BREED. 

PEACOCK,    ORIGIN    OF    BLACK-SHOULDERED    BREED. 

TURKEY,    BREEDS     OF  —  CROSSED     WITH     THE     UNITED    STATES    SPECIES 

EFFECTS    OF    CLIMATE    ON. 

GUINEA-FOWL,  CANARY-BIRD,  GOLD-FISH,  HIVE-BEES. 
SILK-MOTHS,  species   and   breeds   of  —  anciently    domesticated  — 

CARE    IN    THEIR    SELECTION DIFFERENCES    IN    THE    DIFFERENT    RACES 

IN     THE     EGG,     CATERPILLAR,     AND     COCOON     STATES INHERITANCE     OF 

CHARACTERS IMPERFECT  WINGS LOST  INSTINCTS CORRELATED  CHA- 
RACTERS      333 

CHAPTER    IX. 

CULTIVATED  PLANTS:    CEREAL  AND  CULINARY  PLANTS. 

PRELIMINARY  REMARKS  on  the  number  and  parentage  of  cul- 
tivated PLANTS FIRST  STEPS  IN  CULTIVATION GEOGRAPHICAL  DIS- 
TRIBUTION   OF    CULTIVATED    PLANTS. 

CEREALIA. —  doubts  on  the  number  of  species. wheat:  vari- 
eties OF INDIVIDUAL    variability CHANGED    habits  —  selection 

ANCIENT    HISTORY    OF   THE  VARIETIES.  ^— MAIZE  : .   GREAT    VARIATION 

OF DIRECT    ACTION    OF    CLIMATE    ON. 

CULINARY   PLANTS.  —  cabbages:    varieties   of,   in   foliage   and. 

STEMS,    BUT    NOT  IN    OTHER   PARTS  —  PARENTAGE    OF OTHER  SPECIES    OF 

BRASSICA. PEAS :     AMOUNT    OF     DIFFERENCE    IN    THE    SEVERAL    KINDS, 

CHIEFLY    IN     THE     PODS     AND    SEED SOME     VARIETIES     CONSTANT,    SOME 

HIGHLY    VARIABLE DO    NOT    INTER    CROSS. BEANS. POTATOES  : 

NUMEROUS     VARIETIES    OF DIFFERING    LITTLE,    EXCEPT     IN    THE    TUBERS 

CHARACTERS  INHERITED  368 

CHAPTER    X. 

PLANTS  continued—  FRUITS  —  ORNAMENTAL    TREES  — FLOW- 
ERS. 

FRUITS. GRAPES VARY     IN     ODD     AND     TRIFLING     PARTICULARS. 

MULBERRY.  "  ■  THE  ORANGE  GROUP SINGULAR  RESULTS  FROM  CROSS- 
ING.   PEACH  AND  NECTARINE BUD-VARIATION ANALOGOUS  VARI- 
ATION   RELATION  TO  THE  ALMOND. APRICOT. PLUMS VARI- 
ATION   IN    THEIR  STONES. CHERRIES SINGULAR   VARIETIES    OF. 

APPLE. PEAR. STRAWBERRY INTERBLENDING  OF   THE  ORIGINAL 


CONTENTS.  IX 

FORMS. GOOSEBERRY  STEADY    INCREASE    IX    SIZE    OK    THE    FRUIT 

VARIETIES    OF.  — ■ WALNUT. NUT. CUCURBITACEOUS    PLANTS  — ■ 

■WONDERFUL    VARIATION    OF. 

ORNAMENTAL   TREES  —  their   variation   in   degree   and  kind  — 

ASH-TREE SCOTCH-FIR HAWTHORN. 

FLOWERS MULTIPLE  ORIGIN  OF  MANY  KINDS VARIATION  IN  CON- 
STITUTIONAL PECULIARITIES KIND  OF  VARIATION. ROSES SEVE- 
RAL      SPECIES       CULTIVATED.  PANSY.  DAHLIA.  HYACINTH, 

HISTORY    AND    VARIATION    OF 400 

CHAPTER    XI. 

OX  BUD-VARIATION,  AND  OX  CERTAIN  ANOMALOUS  MODES 
OF   REPRODUCTION    AND   VARIATION. 

BUD-VARIATIONS  IN  THE  PEACH,  PLUM,  CHERRY,  VINE,  GOOSEBERRY,  CUR- 
RANT, AND  BANANA,  AS  SHOWN  BY  THE  MODIFIED  FRUIT IN  FLOW- 
ERS :     CAMELLIAS,    AZALEAS,     CHRYSANTHEMUMS,     ROSES,     ETC. ON     THE 

RUNNING    OF.  THE    COLOUR    IN    CARNATIONS BUD- VARIATIONS    IN    LEAVES 

VARIATIONS     BY     SUCKERS,    TUBERS,    AND    BULBS  ON    THE    BREAKING 

OF   TULIPS BUD- VARIATIONS    GRADUATE    INTO    CHANGES    CONSEQUENT   ON 

CHANGED  CONDITIONS  OF  LIFE CYTISUS  ADAMI,  ITS  ORIGIN  AND  TRANS- 
FORMATION  ON     THE     UNION     OF     TWO     DIFFERENT     EMBRYOS     IN    'ONE 

SEED THE  TRIFACIAL  ORANGE ON  REVERSION  BY  BUDS  IN  HY- 
BRIDS    AND    MONGRELS ON     THE     PRODUCTION     OF     MODIFIED     BUDS     BY 

THE     GRAFTING     OF     ONE     VARIETY     OR    SPECIES    ON     ANOTHER ON     THE 

DIRECT  OR  IMMEDIATE  ACTION  OF  FOREIGN  POLLEN  ON  THE  MOTHER- 
PLANT ON  THE  EFFECTS  IN  FEMALE  ANIMALS  OF  A  FIRST  IMPREGNA- 
TION  ON    THE  SUBSEQUENT  OFFSPRING CONCLUSION  AND  SUMMARY      448 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

1.  Dun  Devonshire   Pony-,  with   shoulder,  spinal,  and   leg 

stripes 75 

2.  Head  of  Japan  or  Masked  Pig 90 

3.  Head  of  Wild  Boar,  and  of  "  Golden   Days,"  a    pig  of 

the  Yorkshire  large  breed     93 

4.  Old  Irish  Pig,  with  jaw-appendages        97 

5.  Half-lop  Rabbit 186 

c.  Skull  of  Wild  Rabbit 1-17 

7    Skull  of  large  Lop-eared  Rabbit N7 


X  CONTENTS. 

8.  Part  of  Zygomatic  Arch,  showing   the   projecting  end 

of  the  malar-bone,  and  the  auditory  meatus,  of  rab- 
BITS    148 

9.  Posterior  end  of  Skull,  showing  the  inter-parietal  bone 

of  Rabbits         148 

10.  Occipital  Foramen  of  Rabbits 148 

11.  Skull  of  Half-lop  Rabbit      149 

12.  Atlas  Vertebra  of  Rabbits 151 

13.  Third  Ceryical  Vertebrae  of  Rabbits 152 

14.  Dorsal  Yertebrj;,  from  sixth  to  tenth  inclusive,  of  Rab- 

bits         153 

15.  Terminal  Bone  of  Sternum  of  Rabbits 154 

16.  Acromion  of  Scapula  of  Rabbits       154 

17.  The  Rock-Pigeon,  or  Columba  Liyia        168 

18.  English  Pouter 170 

19.  English  Carrier 174 

20.  English  Barb 180 

21.  English  Fantail    .. 182 

22.  African  Owl 185 

23.  Short-faced  English  Tumbler       188 

24.  Skulls  of  Pigeons,  yiewed  laterally      201 

25.  Lower  Jaws  of  .Pigeons,  seen  from  aboye 202 

26.  Skull  of  Runt,  seen  from  above        203 

27.  Lateral  yiew  of  Jaws  of  Pigeons 203 

28.  Scapula  of  Pigeons 206 

29.  Furcul^e  of  Pigeons 206 

'30.  Spanish  Fowl ..  274 

31.  Hamburgh  Fowl 277 

32.  Polish  Fowl 279 

33.  Occipital  Foramen  of  the  Skulls  of  Fowls       ....     ..  316 

34.  Skulls  of  Fowls,  viewed  from  above,  a  little  obliquely  316 

35.  Longitudinal  sections  of  Skulls  of   Fowls,  viewed  lat- 

erally    318 

36.  Skull    of   Horned   Fowl,  viewed   from   above,  a   little 

obliquely 320 

37.  Sixth  Cervical  Vertebra  of  Fowls,  viewed  laterally  . .  323 

38.  Extremity  of  the  Furcula  of  Fowls,  viewed  laterally  324 

39.  Skulls   of    Ducks,   viewed   laterally,  reduced   to   two 

thirds  of  the  natural  size     340 

40.  Cervical  Vertebra  of  Ducks,  of  natural  size 342 

41.  Pods  of  the  Common  Pea       395 

42.  Peach  and  Almond  Stones,  of  natural  size,  viewed  edge- 

ways        406 

43.  Plum  Stones,  of  natural  size,  viewed  laterally      ..     ..  416 


THE 


VARIATION  OF  ANIMALS  AND  PLANTS 


UNDER  DOMESTICATION. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  object  of  this  work  is  not  to  describe  all  the  many- 
races  of  animals  which  have  been  domesticated  by  man, 
and  of  the  plants  which  have  been  cultivated  by  him ; 
even  if  I  possessed  the  requisite  knowledge,  so  gigantic 
an  undertaking  would  be  here  superfluous.  It  is  my  in- 
tention to  give  under  the  head  of  each  species-  only  such 
facts  as  I  have  been  able  to  collect  or  observe,  showing 
the  amount  and  nature  of  the  changes  which  animals  and 
plants  have  undergone  whilst  under  man's  dominion,  or 
which  bear  on  the  general  principles  of  variation.  In 
one  case  alone,  namely,  in  that  of  the  domestic  pigeon,  I 
will  describe  fully  all  the  chief  races,  their  history,  the 
amount  and  nature  of  their  differences,  and  the  probable 
steps  by  which  they  have  been  formed.  I  have  selected 
this  case,  because,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  the  materials 
are  better  than  in  any  other ;  and  one  case  fully  describ- 
ed will  in  fact  illustrate  all  others-.  But  I  shall  also  de- 
scribe domesticated  rabbits,  fowls,  and  ducks,  with  con- 
siderable fulness. 

The  subjects  discussed  in  this  volume  are  so  connected 
that  it  is  not  a  little  difficult  to  decide  how  they  can  be 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

best  arranged.  I  have  deteraiined  in  the  first  part  to 
give,  under  the  heads  of  the  various  animals  and  plants, 
a  large  body  of  facts,  some  of  which  may  at  first  appear 
but  little  related  to  our  subject,  and  to  devote  the  latter 
part  to  general  discussions.  Whenever  I  have  found  it 
necessary  to  give  numerou  details,  in  support  of  any 
proposition  or  conclusion,  small  type  has  been  used.  The 
reader  will,  I  think,  find  this  plan  a  convenience,  for,  if 
he  does  not  doubt  the  conclusion  or  care  about  the  de- 
tails, he  can  easily  pass  them  over ;  yet  I  may  be  permit- 
ted to  say  that  some  of  the  discussions  thus  printed 
deserve  attention,  at  least  from  the  professed  naturalist. 

It  may  be  useful  to  those  who  have  read  nothing  about 
Natural  Selection,  if  I  here  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
whole  subject  and  of  its  bearing  on  the  origin  of  spe- 
cies.1 This  is  the  more  desirable,  as  it  is  impossible  in 
the  present  work  to  avoid  many  allusions  to  questions 
which  will  be  fully  discussed  in  future  volumes. 

From  a  remote  period,  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  man 
has  subjected  many  animals  and  plants  to  domestication 
or  culture.  Man  has  no  power  of  altering  the  absolute 
conditions  of  life ;  he  cannot  change  the  climate  of  any 
country  ;  he  adds  no  new  element  to  the  soil ;  but  he  can 
remove  an  animal  or  plant  from  one  climate  or  soil  to 
another,  and  give  it  food  on  which  it  did  not  subsist  in 
its  natural  state.  It  is  an  error  to  speak  of  man  "  tam- 
pering with  nature  "  and  causing  variability.  If  organic 
beings  had  not  possessed  an  inherent  tendency  to  vary, 
man  could  have  done  nothing.2  He  unintentionally  ex- 
poses his  animals  and  plants  to  various  conditions  of  life, 

1  To  any  one  who  has  attentively  read  2  M.  Pouehet  has  recently  ('  Plurality 
my  '  Origin  of  Species  '  this  Introduction  of  Races,'  Eng.  Translat.,  1S64,  p.  83, 
will  be  superfluous.  As  I  stated  in  that  &c.)  insisted  that  variation  under  do- 
work  that  I  should  soon  publish  the  facts  mestication  throws  no  light  on  the  natu- 
on  which  the  conclusions  given  in  it  ral  modification  of  species.  I  cannot 
were  founded,  I  here  beg  permission  to  perceive  the  force  of  his  arguments,  or, 
remark  that  the  great  delay  in  publish-  to  speak  more  accurately,  of  his  asser- 
ing  this  first  work  has  been  caused  by  tions  to  this  effect, 
continued  ill-health. 


NATURAL    SELECTION.  13 

au<l  variability  supervenes,  which  he  cannot  even  prevent 
or  check.  Consider  the  simple  case  of  a  plant  which  has 
been  cultivated  during  a  long  time  in  its  native  country, 
and  which  consequently  has  not  been  subjected  to  any 
change  of  climate.  It  has  been  protected  to  a  certain 
extent  from  the  competing  roots  of  plants  of  other  kinds  ; 
it  has  generally  been  grown  in  manured  soil,  but  proba- 
bly not  richer  than  that  of  many  an  alluvial  flat ;  and 
lastly,  it  has  been  exposed  to  changes  in  its  conditions, 
being  grown  sometimes  in  one  district  and  sometimes  in 
another,  in  different  soils.  Under  such  circumstances, 
scarcely  a  plant  can  be  named,  though  cultivated  in  the 
rudest  manner,  which  has  not  given  birth  to  several  va- 
rieties. It  can  hardly  be  maintained  that  during  the 
many  changes  which  this  earth  has  undergone,  and 
during  the  natural  migrations  of  plants  from  one  land  or 
island  to  another,  tenanted  by  different  species,  that  such 
plants  will  not  often  have  been  subjected  to  changes  in 
their  conditions  analogous  to  those  which  almost  inevi- 
tably cause  cultivated  plants  to  vary.  No  doubt  man 
selects  varying  individuals,  sows  their  seeds,  and  again 
selects  their  varying  offspring.  But  the  initial  variation 
on  which  man  works,  and  without  which  he  can  do  noth- 
ing, is  caused  by  slight  changes  in  the  conditions  of  life, 
which  must  often  have  occurred  under  nature.  Man, 
therefore,  may  be  said  to  have  been  trying  an  experiment 
on  a  gigantic  scale  ;  and  it  is  an  experiment  which  na- 
ture during  the  long  lapse  of  time  has  incessantly  tried. 
Hence  it  follows  that  the  principles  of  domestication  are 
important  for  us.  The  main  result  is  that  organic  beings 
thus  treated  have  varied  largely,  and  the  variations  have 
been  inherited.  This  has  apparently  been  one  chief  cause 
of  the  belief  long  held  by  some  few  naturalists  that  spe- 
cies in  a  state  of  nature  undergo  change. 

I  shall  in  this  volume  treat,  as  fully  as  my  materials 
permit,  the  Whole  subject  of  variation  under  domestica- 
tion.    We  may  thus  hope   to   obtain     some  light,  little 


1 4  INTRODUCTION. 

though  it  be,  on  the  causes  of  variability, — on  the  laws 
which  govern  it,  such  as  the  direct  action  of  climate  and 
food,  the  effects  of  use  and  disuse,  and  of  correlation  of 
growth, — and  on  the  amount  of  change  to  which  domes- 
ticated organisms  are  liable.  We  shall  learn  something 
on  the  laws  of  inheritance,  on  the  effects  of  crossing  dif- 
ferent breeds,  and  on  that  sterility  which  often  supervenes 
when  organic  beings  are  removed  from  their  natural  con- 
ditions of  life,  and  likewise  Avhen  they  are  too  closely 
interbred.  During  this  investigation  Ave  shall  see  that 
the  principle  of  Selection  is  all  important.  Although  man 
does  not  cause  variability  and  cannot  even  prevent  it,  he 
can  select,  preserve,  and  accumulate  the  variations  given 
to  him  by  the  hand  of  nature  in  any  way  which  he 
chooses;  and  thus  he  can  certainly  produce  a  great  result. 
Selection  may  be  followed  either  methodically  and  inten- 
tionally, or  unconsciously  and  unintentionally.  Man  may 
select  and  preserve  each  successive  variation,  Avith  the 
distinct  intention  of  improving  and  altering  a  breed,  in 
accordance  with  a  preconceived  idea;  and  by  thus  adding 
up  variations,  often  so  slight  as  to  be  imperceptible  by 
an  uneducated  eye,  he  has  effected  wonderful  changes  and 
improvements.  It  can,  also,  be  clearly  shown  that  man, 
Avithout  any  intention  or  thought  of  improving  the  breed, 
by  preserving  in  each  successive  generation  the  indivi- 
duals which  he  prizes  most,  and  by  desti'oying  the  Avorth- 
less  individuals,  slowly,  though  surely,  induces  great 
changes.  As  the  will  of  man  thus  comes  into  play,  we 
can  understand  Iioav  it  is  that  domesticated  breeds  sIioav 
adaptation  to  his  wants  and  pleasures.  We  can  further 
understand  Iioav  it  is  that  domestic  races  of  animals  and 
cultivated  races  of  plants  often  exhibit  an  abnormal  cha- 
racter, as  compared  Avith  natural  species  ;  for  they  have 
been  modified  not  for  their  own  benefit,  but  for  that  of 
man. 

In  a  second  Avork  I  shall  discuss  the  variability  of  or- 
ganic beings  in  a  state  of  nature  ;  namely,  the  individual 


NATURAL    SELECTION.  15 

differences  presented  by  animals  and  plants,  and  those 
slightly  greater  and  generally  inherited  differences  which 
are  ranked  by  naturalists  as  varieties  or  geographical 
races.  We  shall  see  how  difficult,  or  rather  how  impos- 
sible it  often  is,  to  distinguish  between  races  and  sub- 
species, as  the  less  well-marked  forms  have  sometimes 
been  denominated ;  and  again  between  sub  species  and 
true  species.  I  shall  further  attempt  to  show  that  it  is 
the  common  and  widely  ranging,  or,  as  they  may  be 
called,  the  dominant  species,  which  most  frequently  vary ; 
and  that  it  is  the  large  and  flourishing  genera  which  in- 
clude the  greatest  number  of  varying  species.  Varieties, 
as  we  shall  see,  may  justly  be  called  incipient  species. 

But  it  maybe  urged,  granting  that  organic  beings  in  a 
state  of  nature  present  some  varieties, — that  their  organi- 
zation is  in  some  slight  degree  plastic  ;  granting  that 
many  animals  and  plants  have  varied  greatly  under  do- 
mestication, and  that  man  by  his  power  of  selection  has 
gone  on  accumulating  such  variations  until  he  has  made 
strongly  marked  and  firmly  inherited  races ;  granting  all 
this,  how,  it  may  be  asked,  have  species  arisen  in  a  state 
of  nature  ?  The  differences  between  natural  varieties  are 
slight ;  whereas  the  differences  are  considerable  between 
the  species  of  the  same  genus,  and  great  between  the 
species  of  distinct  genera.  How  do  these  lesser  differ- 
ences become  augmented  into  the  greater  difference  ? 
How  do  varieties,  or  as  I  have  called  them  incipient 
species,  become  converted  into  true  and  well-defined 
species?  How  has  each  new  species  been  adapted  to 
the  surrounding  physical  conditions,  and  to  the  other 
forms  of  life  on  which  it  in  any  way  depends  ?  We  see 
on  every  side  of  us  innumerable  adaptations  and  contri- 
vances, which  have  justly  excited  in  the  mind  of  every 
observer  the  highest  admiration.  There  is,  for  instance, 
a  fly  (Cecidomyia)3  which  deposits  its  eggs  within  the 


'  Leon  Dufour  in  '  Annates  Jes  Scienc.  Nat.'  (8rd  series,  Zoolog.),  torn.  v.  p.  6. 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

stamens  of  a  Scrophularia,  and  secretes  a  poison  which 
produces  a  gall,  on  which  the  larva  feeds;  but  there  is 
another  insect  (Misocampus)  which  deposits  its  eggs 
"within  the  body  of  the  larva  within  the  gall,  and  is  thus 
nourished  by  its  living  prey ;  so  that  here  a  hymenopte- 
rous  insect  depends  on  a  dipterous  insect,  and  this  de- 
pends on  its  power  of  producing  a  monstrous  growth  in 
a  particular  organ  of  a  particular  plant.  So  it  is,  in  a 
more  or  less  plainly  marked  manner,  in  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  cases,  with  the  lowest  as  well  as 
with  the  highest  productions  of  nature. 

This  problem  of  the  conversion  of  varieties  into  species, 
— that  is,  the  augmentation  of  the  slight  differences  cha- 
racteristic of  varieties  into  the  greater  differences  charac- 
teristic of  species  and  genera,  including  the  admirable 
adaptations  of  each  being  to  its  complex  organic  and  in- 
organic conditions  of  life, — will  form  the  main  subject  of 
my  second  work.  We  shall  therein  see  that  all  organic 
beings,  without  exception,  tend  to  increase  at  so  high  a 
ratio,  that  no  district,  no  station,  not  even  the  whole  sui*- 
face  of  the  land  or  the  whole  ocean,  would  hold  the  pro- 
geny of  a  single  pair  after  a  certain  number  of  genera- 
tions. The  inevitable  result  is  an  ever-recurrent  Strug- 
gle for  Existence.  It  has  truly  been  said  that  all  nature 
is  at  Avar  ;  the  strongest  ultimately  prevail,  the  weakest 
fail;  and  we  well  know  that  myriads  of  forms  have  dis- 
appeared from  the  face  of  the  earth.  If  then  organic 
beings  in  a  state  of  nature  vary  even  in  a  slight  degree, 
owing  to  changes  in  the  surrounding  conditions,  of  which 
we  have  abundant  geological  evidence,  or  from  any  other 
cause  ;  if,  in  the  long  course  of  ages,  inheritable  varia- 
tions ever  arise  in  any  way  advantageous  to  any  being 
under  its  excessively  complex  and  changing  relations  of 
life;  and  it  would  be  a  strange  fact  if  beneficial  varia- 
tions did  never  arise,  seeing  how  many  have  arisen  which 
man  has  taken  advantage  of  for  his  own  profit  or  pleasure ; 
if  then  these  contingencies  ever  occur,  and  I  do-not  see 


NATURAL    SELECTION.  17 

how  the  probability  of  their  occurrence  can  be  doubted, 
then  the  severe  and  often-recurrent  struggle  for  existence 
will  determine  that  those  variations,  however  slight, 
which  are  favourable  shall  be  preserved  or  selected,  and 
those  which  are  unfavourable  shall  be  destroyed. 

This  preservation,  during  the  battle  for  life,  of  varieties 
which  possess  any  advantage  in  structure,  constitution, 
or  instinct,  I  have  called  Natural  Selection ;  and  Mr. 
Herbert  Spencer  has  Avell  expressed' the  same  idea  by  the 
Survival  of  the  Fittest.  The  term  "  natural  selection"  is 
in  some  respects  a  bad  one,  as  it  seems  to  imply  conscious 
choice  ;  but  this  will  be  disregarded  after  a  little  familiar- 
ity. No  one  objects  to  chemists  speaking  of-  "  elective 
affinity;"  and  certainly  an  acid  has  no  more  choice  in 
combining  with  a  base,  than  the  conditions  of  life  have  in 
determining  whether  or  not  a  new  form  be  selected  or 
preserved.  The  term  is  so  far  a  good  one  as  it  brings 
into  connection  the  production  of  domestic  races  by  man's 
power  of  selection,  and  the  natural  preservation  of  varie- 
ties and  species  in  a  state  of  nature.  For  brevity  sake  I 
sometimes  speak  of  natural  selection  as  an  intelligent 
power  ; — in  the  same  way  as  astronomers  speak  of  the  at- 
traction of  gravity  as  ruling  the  movements  of  the  planets, 
or  as  agriculturists  speak  of  man  making  domestic  races 
by  his  power  of  selection.  In  the  one  case,  as  in  the  other, 
selection  does  nothing  without  variability,  and  this  de- 
pends in  some  manner  on  the  action  of  the  surrounding 
circumstances  on  the  organism.  I  have,  also,  often  per- 
sonified the  word  Nature ;  for  I  have  found  it  difficult  to 
avoid  this  ambiguity  ;  but  I  mean  by  nature  only  the  ag- 
gregate action  and  product  of  many  natural  laws, — and 
by  laws  only  the  ascertained  sequence  of  events. 

In  the  chapter  devoted  to  natural  selection  I  shall 
show  from  experiment  and  from  a  multitude  of  facts, 
that  the  greatest  amount  of  life  can  be  supported  on 
each  spot  by  great  diversification  or  divergence  in  the 
structure  and  constitution  of  its  inhabitants.     We  shall, 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

also,  see  that  the  continued  production  cf  new  forms 
through  natural  selection,  which  implies  that  each  new 
variety  lias  some  advantage  over  others,  almost  inevita- 
bly leads  to  the  extermination  of  the  older  and  less  im- 
proved forms.  These  latter  are  almost  necessarily  inter- 
mediate in  structure  as  well  as  in  descent  between  the 
last-produced  forms  and  their  original  parent-species. 
Now,  if  we  suppose  a  species  to  produce  two  or  more 
varieties,  and  these  in  the  course  of  time  to  produce 
other  varieties,  the  principle  of  good  being  derived  from 
diversification  of  structure  Avill  general!}*  lead  to  the 
preservation  of  the  most  divergent  varieties;  thus  the 
lesser  differences  characteristic  of  varieties  come  to  be 
augmented  into  the  greater  differences  characteristic  of 
species,  and,  by  the  extermination  of  the  older  inter 
mediate  forms,  new  species  come  to  be  distinctly  defined 
objects.  Thus,  also,  we  shall  see  how  it  is  that  organic 
beings  can  be  classed  by  what  is  called  a  natural  method 
in  distinct  groups — species  under  genera,  and  genera 
under  families. 

As  all  the  inhabitants  of  each  country  may  be  said, 
owing  to  their  high  rate  of  reproduction,  to  be  striving 
to  increase  in  numbers ;  as  each  form  is  related  to  many 
other  forms  in  the  struggle  for  life, — for  destroy  any  one 
and  its  place  will  be  seized  by  others  ;  as  every  part  of 
the  organization  occasionally  varies  in  some  slight  de- 
gree, and  as  natural  selection  acts  exclusively  by  the 
preservation  of  variations  which  are  advantageous  under 
the  excessively  complex  conditions  to  which  each  being 
is  exposed,  no  limit  exists  to  the  number,  singularity,  and 
perfection  of  the  contrivances  and  co-adaptations  which 
may  thus  be  produced.  An  animal  or  a  plant  may  thus 
slowly  become  related  in  its  structure  and  habits  in  the 
most  intricate  manner  to  many  other  animals  and  plants, 
and  to  the  physical  conditions  of  its  home.  Variations 
in  the  organization  will  in  some  cases  be  aided  by  habit, 
or  by  the  use  and  disuse  of  parts,  and  they  will  be  gov- 


NATURAL    SELECTION.  19 

erned  by  the  direct  action  of  the  surrouuding  physical 
conditions  and  by  correlation  of  growth. 

On  the  principles  here  briefly  sketched  out,  there  is 
no  innate  or  necessary  tendency  in  each  being  to  its  own 
advancement  in  the  scale  of  organization.  We  are  almost 
compelled  to  look  at  the  specialization  or  differentiation 
of  parts  or  organs  for  different  functions  as  the  best  or 
even  sole  standard  of  advancement;  for  by  such  division 
of  labour  each  function  of  body  and  mind  is  better 
performed.  And,  as  natural  selection  acts  exclusively 
through  the  preservation  of  profitable  modifications  of 
structure,  and  as  the  conditions  of  life  in  each  area  gen- 
eral^ become  more  and  more  complex,  from  the  increas- 
ing number  of  different  forms  which  inhabit  it  and  from 
most  of  these  forms  acquiring  a  more  and  more  perfect 
structure,  Ave  may  confidently  believe,  that,  on  the  whole, 
organization  advances.  Nevertheless  a  very  simple  form 
fitted  for  very  simple  conditions  of  life  might  remain  for 
indefinite  ages  unaltered  or  unimproved  ;  for  what  would 
it  profit  an  infusorial  animalcule,  for  instance,  or  an 
intestinal  worm,  to  become  highly  organized  ?  Members 
of  a  high  group  might  even  become,  and  this  apparently 
has  occurred,  fitted  for  simpler  conditions  of  life;  and 
in  this  case  natural  selection  would  tend  to  simplify  or  de- 
grade the  organization,  for  complicated  mechanism  for 
simple  actions  would  be  useless  or  even  disadvanta- 
geous. 

In  a  second  work,  after  treating  of  the  Variation  of 
organisms  in  a  state  of  nature,  of  the  Struggle  for  Exist- 
ence and  the  principle  of  Natural  Selection,  I  shall  dis- 
cuss the  difficulties  which  are  opposed  to  the  theory. 
These  difficulties  may  be  classed  under  the  following 
heads  : — the  apparent  impossibility  in  some  cases  of  a 
very  simple  organ  graduating  by  small  steps  into  a 
highly  perfect  organ;  the  marvellous  facts  of  Instinct; 
the  whole  question  of  Ilybridity  ;  and,  lastly,  the  ab- 
sence, at  the  present  time  and  in  our  geological  forma- 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

tions,  of  innumerable  links  connecting  all  allied  species. 
Although  some  of  these  difficulties  are  of  great  weight, 
we  shall  see  that  many  of  them  are  explicable  on  the 
theory  of  natural  selection,  and  are  otherwise  inexplica- 
ble. 

In  scientific  investigations  it  is  permitted  to  invent 
any  hypothesis,  and  if  it  explains  various  large  and 
independent  classes  of  facts  it  rises  to  the  rank  of  a 
well-grounded  theory.  The  undulations  of  the  ether  and 
even  its  existence  are  hypothetical,  yet  every  one  now 
admits  the  undulatory  theory  of  light.  The  principle 
of  natural  selection  may  be  looked  at  as  a  mere  hypoth- 
esis, but  rendered  in  some  degree  probable  by  what  we 
positively  know  of  the  variability  of  organic  beings  in  a 
state  of  nature, — by  what  we  positively  know  of  the 
struggle  for  existence,  and  the  consequent  almost  inev- 
itable preservation  of  favourable  variations, — and  from 
the  analogical  formation  of  domestic  races.  Now  this 
hypothesis  may  be  tested, — and  this  seems  to  me  the 
only  fair  and  legitimate  manner  of  considering  the  whole 
question, — by  trying  whether  it  explains  several  large 
and  independent  classes  of  facts;  such  as  the  geological 
succession  of  organic  beings,  their  distribution  in  past 
and  present  times,  and  their  mutual  affinities  and  homol- 
ogies. If  the  principle  of  natural  selection  does  explain 
these  and  other  large  bodies  of  facts,  it  ought  to  be  re- 
ceived. On  the  ordinary  view  of  each  species  having 
been  independently  created,  Ave  gain  no  scientific  expla- 
nation of  any  one  of  these  facts.  "We  can  only  say  that 
it  has  sor pleased  the  Creator  to  command  that  the  past 
and  present  inhabitants  of  the  world  should  appear 
in  a  certain  order  and  in  certain  areas;  that  He  has 
impressed  on  them  the  most  extraordinary  resemblances, 
and  has  classed  them  in  groups  subordinate  to  groups. 
But  by  such  statements  we  gain  no  new  knowledge ;  we 
do  not  connect  together  facts  and  laws ;  we  explain 
nothing. 


NATURAL    SELECTION.  21 

In  a  third  work  I  shall  try  the  principle  of  natural  se- 
lection by  seeing  how  far  it  will  give  a  fair  explanation 
of  the  several  classes  of  facts  just  alluded  to.  It  was  the 
consideration  of  these  facts  which  first  led  me  to  take  up 
the  present  subject.  When  I  visited,  during  the  voyage 
of  II.M.S.  Beagle,  the  Galapagos  Archipelago,  situated 
in  the  Pacific  Ocean  about  500  miles  from  the  shore  of 
South  America-,  I  found  myself  surrounded  by  peculiar 
species  of  birds,  reptiles,  and  plants,  existing  nowhere 
else  in  the  world.  Yet  they  nearly  all  bore  an  American 
stamp.  In  the  song  of  the  mocking-thrush,  in  the  harsh 
cry  of  the  carrion-hawk,  in  the  great  candlestick-like 
opuntias,  I  clearly  perceived  the  neighbourhood  of  Ame- 
rica, though  the  islands  were  separated  by  so  many  miles 
'of  ocean  from  the  mainland,  and  differed  much  from  it 
in  their  geological  constitution  and  climate.  Still  more 
surprising  was  the  fact  that  most  of  the  inhabitants  of 
each  separate  island  in  this  small  archipelago  were  speci- 
fically different,  though  most'closely  related  to  each  other. 
The  archipelago,  with  its  innumerable  craters  and  bare 
streams  of  lava,  appeared  to  be  of  recent  origin  ;  and  thus 
I  fancied  myself  brought  near  to  the  very  act  of  creation. 
I  often  asked  myself  how  these  many  peculiar  animals 
and  plants  had  been  produced :  the  simplest  answer 
seemed  to  be  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  several  islands 
had  descended  from  each  other,  undergoing  modification 
in  the  course  of  their  descent ;  and  that  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  archipelago  had  descended  from  those  of  the  near- 
est land,  namely  America,  whence  colonists  would  na- 
turally have  been  derived.  But  it  long  remained  to  me 
an  inexplicable  problem  how  the  necessary  degree  of 
modification  could  have  been  effected,  and  it  would  have 
thus  remained  for  ever,  had  I  not  studied  domestic 
productions,  and  thus  acquired  a  just  idea  of  the  power 
of  selection.  As  soon  as  I  had  fully  realized  this  idea, 
I  saw,  on  reading  Malthua  on  Population,  that  Natural 
Selection  was  the  inevitable  remit  of  the  rapid  increase 


22  INTEODUCTKW. 

of  all  organic  beings ;  for  I  was  prepared  to  appreciate 
the  struggle  for  existence  by  having  long  studied  the 
habits  of  animals. 

Before  visiting  the  Galapagos  I  had  collected  many 
animals  whilst  travelling  from  north  to  south  on  both 
sides  of  America,  and  everywhere,  under  conditions  of 
life  as  different  as  it  is  possible  to  conceive,  American 
forms  were  met  with — species  replacing  species  of  the 
same  peculiar  genera.  Thus  it  was  when  the  Cordilleras 
were  ascended,  or  the  thick  tropical  forests  peneti-ated,  or 
the  fresh  waters  of  America  searched.  Subsequently  I 
visited  other  countries,  which  in  all  the  conditions  of  life 
were  incomparably  more  like  to  parts  of  South  America, 
than  the  different  parts  of  that  continent  were  to  each 
other ;  yet  in  these  countries,  as  in  Australia  or  Southern 
Africa,  the  traveller  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  the  en- 
tire difference  of  their  productions.  Again  the  reflection 
was  forced  on  me  that  community  of  descent  from  the 
early  inhabitants  or  colonists  of  South  America  Avould 
alone  explain  the  wide  prevalence  of  American  types  of 
structure  throughout  that  immense  area. 

To  exhume  with  one's  own  hands  the  bones  of  extinct 
and  gigantic  quadrupeds  brings  the  whole  question  of  the 
succession  of  species  vividly  before  one's  mind ;  and  I  had 
found  in  South  America  great  pieces  of  tessellated  armour 
exactly  like,  but  on  a  magnificent  scale,  that  covering 
the  pigmy  armadillo ;  I  had  found  great  teeth  like  those 
of  the  living  sloth,  and  bones  like  those  of  the  cavy.  An 
analogous  succession  of  allied  forms  had  been  previously 
observed  in  Australia.  Here  then  we  see  the  prevalence, 
as  if  by  descent,  in  time  as  in  space,  of  the  same  types  in 
the  same  areas  ;  and  in  neither  case  does  the  similarity  of 
the  conditions  by  any  means  seem  sufficient  to  account  for 
the  similarity  of  the  forms  of  life.  It  is  notorious  that 
the  fossil  remains  of  closely  consecutive  formations  are 
closely  allied  in  structure,  and  we  can  at  once  understand 
the  fact  if  they  are  likewise  closely,  allied  by  descent. 


NATURAL    SELECTION.  23 

The  succession  of  the  many  distinct  species  of  the  same 
genus  throughout  the  long  series  of  geological  formations 
seems  to  have  been  unbroken  or  continuous.  New  spe- 
cies come  in  gradually  one  by  one.  Ancient  and  extinct 
forms  of  life  often  show  combined  or  intermediate  cha- 
racters, like  the  words  of  a  dead  language  with  respect  to 
its  several  offshoots  or  living  tongues.  All  these  and 
other  such  facts  seemed  to  me  to  point  to  descent  with 
modification  as  the  method  of  production  of  new  groups 
of  species. 

The  innumerable  past  and  present  inhabitants  of  the 
world  are  connected  together  by  the  most  singular  and 
complex  affinities,  and  can  be  classed  in  groups  under 
groups,  in  the  same  manner  as  varieties  can  be  classed 
under  species  and  sub-varieties  under  varieties,  but  with 
much  higher  grades  of  difference.  It  will  be  seen  in  my 
third  Avork  that  these  complex  affinities  and  the  rules  for 
classification  receive  a  rational  explanation  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  descent,  together  with  modifications  acquired 
through  natural  selection,  entailing  divergence  of  cha- 
racter and  the  extinction  of  intermediate  forms.  How 
inexplicable  is  the  similar  pattern  of  the  hand  of  a  man, 
the  foot  of  a  dog,  the  wing  of  a  bat,  the  flipper  of  a 
seal,  on  the  doctrine  of  independent  acts  of  creation! 
how  simply  explained  on  the  principle  of  the  natural 
selection  of  successive  slight  variations  in  the  diverging 
descendants  from  a  single  progenitor  !  So  it  is,  if  Ave 
look  to  the  structure  of  an  individual  animal  or  plant, 
when  we  see  the  fore  and  hind  limbs,  the  skull  and  ver- 
tebra?, the  jaws  and  legs  of  a  crab,  the  petals,  stamens, 
■  and  pistils  of  a  flower,  built  on  the  same  type  or  pat- 
tern. During  the  many  changes  to  which  in  the  course 
of  time  all  organic  beings  have  been  subjected,  certain 
organs  or  parts  have  occasionally  become  at  first  of  lit- 
tle use  and  ultimately  superfluous ;  and  tire  retention  of 
such  parts  in  a  rudimentary  and  utterly  useless  condition 
can,  on  the  descent-theory,  be  simply  understood.     On 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

the  principle  of  modifications  being  inherited  at  the 
same  age  in  the  child,  at  which  each  successive  varia- 
tion first  appeared  in  the  parent,  Ave  shall  see  why  rudi- 
mentary parts  and  organs  are  generally  well  developed 
in  the  individual  at  a  very  early  age.  On  the  same  prin- 
ciple of  inheritance  at  corresponding  ages,  and  on  the 
principle  of  variations  not  generally  supervening  at  a 
very  early  period  of  embryonic  growth  (and  both  these 
principles  can  be  shown  to  be  probable  from  direct  evi- 
dence), that  most  wonderful  fact  in  the  whole  round  of 
natural  history,  namely,  the  similarity  of  members  of  the 
same  great  class  in  their  embryonic  condition, — the  em- 
bryo, for  instance,  of  a  mammal,  bird,  reptile,  and  fish 
being  barely  distinguishable,  —  becomes  simply  intelli- 
gible. 

It  is  the  consideration  and  explanation  of  such  fiicts  as 
these  which  has  convinced  me  that  the  theory  of  descent 
with  modification  by  means  of  natural  selection  is  in  the 
main  true.  These  facts  have  as  yet  received  no  explana- 
tion on  the  theory  of  independent  Creations ;  they  can- 
not be  grouped  together  under  one  point  of  view,  but 
each  has  to  be  considered  as  an  ultimate  fact.  As  the 
first  origin  of  life  on  this  earth,  as  well  as  the  continued 
life  of  each  individual,  is  at  present  quite  beyond  the 
scope  of  science,  I  do  not  wish  to  lay  much  stress  on 
the  greater  simplicity  of  the  view  of  a  few  forms,  or  of 
only  one  form,  having  been  originally  created,  instead  of 
innumerable  miraculous  creations  having  been  necessary 
at  innumerable  periods  ;  though  this  more  simple  view 
accords  well  with  Maupertuis's  philosophical-  axiom  "  of 
least  action." 

In  considering  how  far  the  theory  of  natural  selection 
may  be  extended, — that  is,  in  determining  from  how 
many  progenitors  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  have 
descended,  —  we  may  conclude  that  at  least  all  the 
members  of  the  same  class  have  descended  from  a  sin- 
gle ancestor.     A  number  of  organic  beings  are  included 


NATURAL    SELECTION.  25 

in  the  same  class,  because  they  present,  independently 
of  their  habits  of  life,  the  same  fundamental  type  of 
structure,  and  because  they  graduate  into  each  other. 
Moreover,  members  of  the  same  class  can  in  most  cases 
be  shown  to  be  closely  alike  at  an  early  embryonic  age. 
These  facts  can  be  explained  on  the  belief  of  their  de- 
scent from  a  common  form  ;  therefore  it  may  be  safely 
admitted  that  all  the  members  of  the  same  class  have 
descended  from  one  progenitor.  But  as  the  members 
of  quite  distinct  classes  have  something  in  common  in 
structure  and  much  in  common  in  constitution,  analogy 
and  the  simplicity  of  the  view  would  lead  us  one  step 
further,  and  to  infer  as  probable  that  all  living  creatures 
have  descended  from  a  single  prototype. 

I  hope  that  the  reader  will  pause  before  coming  to  any 
final  and  hostile  conclusion  on  the  theory  of  natural  se- 
lection. It  is  the  facts  and  views  to  be  hereafter  given 
which  have  convinced  me  of  the  truth  of  the  theory. 
The  reader  may  consult  my  '  Origin  of  Species,'  for  a 
general  sketch  of  the  whole  subject ;  but  in  that  work 
he  has  to  take  many  statements  on  trust:  In  consider- 
ing the  theory  of  natural  selection,  he  will  assuredly 
meet  with  weighty  difficulties,  but  these  difficulties  re- 
late chiefly  to  subjects — such  as  the  degree  of  perfec- 
tion of  the  geological  record,  the  means  of  distribution, 
the  possibility  of  transitions  in  organs,  &c. — on  which 
we  are  confessedly  ignorant;  nor  do  we  know  how  ig- 
norant we  are.  If  we  are  much  more  ignorant  than  is 
generally  supposed,  most  of  these  difficulties  wholly  dis- 
appear. Let  the  reader  reflect  on  the  difficulty  of  look- 
ing at  whole  classes  of  facts  from  a  new  point  of  view. 
Let  him  observe  how  slowly,  but  surely,  the  noble  views 
of  Lyell  on  the  gradual  changes  now  in  progress  on  the 
earth's  surface  have  been  accepted  as  sufficient  to  ac- 
count for  all  that  we  see  in  its  "past  history.  The  pre- 
sent action  of  natural  selection  may  seem  more  or  less 
probable ;  but  I  believe  in  the  truth  of  the  theory,  be« 
2 


26 


INTRODUCTION. 


cause  it  collects  under  one  point  of  view,  and  gives  a 
rational  explanation  of,  many  apparently  independent 
classes  of  facts.4 


*  In  treating  the  several  subjects  in- 
cluded in  the  present  and  succeeding 
works  I  have  continually  been  led  to 
ask  for  information  from  many  zoolo- 
gists, botanists,  geologists,  breeders  of 
animals,  and  horticulturists,  and  I  have 
invariably  received  from  them  the  most 
generous  assistance.  Without  such  aid 
I  could  have  effected  little.  I  have  re- 
peatedly applied  for  information  and 
specimens  to  foreigners,  and  to  British 


merchants  and  officers  of  the  Govern- 
ment residing  in  distant  lands,  and, 
with  the  rarest  exceptions,  I  have  re- 
ceived prompt,  open-handed,  and  valu- 
able assistance.  I  cannot  express  too 
strongly  my  obligations  to  the  many 
persons  who  have  assisted  me,  and 
who,  I  am  convinced,  would  be  equal- 
ly willing  to  assist  others  in  any  scien- 
tific investigation. 


Chap.  I.  DOGS  :     THEIR    PARENTAGE.  27 


CHAPTER    I. 

DOMESTIC  DOGS  AND  CATS 

ANCIENT  VARIETIES  OP  THE  DOG  —  RESEMBLANCE  OP  DOMESTIC 
DOGS  IN  VARIOUS  COUNTRIES  TO  NATIVE  CANINE  SPECIES  —  ANI- 
MALS NOT  ACQUAINTED  WITH  MAN  AT  FIRST  FEARLESS  —  DOGS 
RESEMBLING  "WOLVES  AND  JACKALS  —  HABIT  OF  BARKING  AC- 
QUIRED AND  LOST  —  FERAL  DOGS  —  TAN-COLOURED  EYE-SPOTS  — 
PERIOD  OF  GESTATION  —  OFFENSIVE  ODOUR  —  FERTILITY  OP  THE 
RACES  WHEN  CROSSED  —  DIFFERENCES  IN  THE  SEVERAL  RACES 
IN  PART  DUE  TO  DESCENT  FROM  DISTINCT  SPECIES  —  DIFFERENCES 
IX  THE  SKULL  AND  TEETH  —  DIFFERENCES  IN  THE  BODY,  IN  CON- 
STITUTION—  FEW  IMPORTANT  DIFFERENCES  HAVE  BEEN  FIXED 
BY  SELECTION  —  DIRECT  ACTION  OF  CLIMATE  —  WATER-DOGS  WITH 
PALMATED  FEET  —  niSTORY  OF  THE  CHANGES  WHICH  CERTAIN 
ENGLISH  RACES  O  F  THE  DOG  HAVE  GRADUALLY  UNDERGONE 
THROUGH  SELECTION  —  EXTINCTION  OF  THE  LESS  IMPROVED  SUB- 
BREEDS. 

CATS,  CROSSED  WITH  SEVERAL  SPECIES  —  DIFFERENT  BREEDS 
FOUND  ONLY  IN  SEPARATED  COUNTRIES  —  DIRECT  EFFECTS  OF 
THE  CONDITIONS  OF  LIFE  —  FERAL  CAT8 — INDIVIDUAL  VARIA- 
BILITY. 

The  first  and  chief  point  of  interest  in  this  chapter  is, 
whether  the  numerous  domesticated  varieties  of  the  dog 
have  descended  from  a  single  wild  species,  or  from  several. 
Some  authors  believe  that  all  have  descended  from  the 
wolf,  or  from  the  jackal,  or  from  an  unknown  and  extinct 
species.  Others  again  believe,  and  this  of  late  has  been 
the  favourite  tenet,  that  they  have  descended  from  several 
species,  extinct  and  recent,  more  or  less  commingled  to- 
gether.    We  shall  probably  never  be  able  to  ascertain 


28  DOGS.  Chap.  I. 

their  origin  with  certainty.  Palaeontology '  does  not 
throw  much  light  on  the  question,  owing,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  the  close  similarity  of  the  skulls  of  extinct  as 
well  as  living  wolves  and  jackals,  and  owing  on  the  other 
hand  to  the  great  dissimilarity  of  the  skulls  of  the  several 
breeds  of  the  domestic  dogs.  It  seems,  however,  that 
remains  have  been  found  in  the  later  tertiary  deposits 
more  like  those  of  a  large  dog  than  of  a  wolf,  which 
favours  the  belief  of  De  Blainville  that  our  dogs  are  the 
descendants  of  a  single  extinct  species.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  authors  go  so  far  as  to  assert  that  every  chief 
domestic  breed  must  have  had  its  wild  prototype.  This 
latter  view  is  extremely  improbable  ;  it  allows  nothing 
for  variation  ;  it  passes  over  the  almost  monstrous  charac- 
ter of  some  of  the  breeds  ;  and  it  almost  necessarily  as- 
sumes, that  a  large  number  of  species  have  become  extinct 
since  man  domesticated  the  dog;  whereas  we  plainly  see 
that  the  members  of  the  dog-family  are  extirpated  by 
human  agency  with  much  difficulty ;  even  so  recently  as 
1710  the  wolf  existed  in  so  small  an  island  as  Ireland. 

The  reasons  which  have  led  various  authors  to  infer 
that  our  dogs  have  descended  from  more  than  one  wild 
species  are  as  follows.2     Firstly,  the  great  difference  be- 


1  Owen, 'British  Fossil  Mammals,' p.  Gliddon,  in  the  United  States.  Prof.  Low, 
128  to  133.  Pictet's  "Traite  de  Pal.,'  in  his 'Domesticated  Animals,'  1845,  p. 
1853,  torn.  i.  p.  202.  De  Blainville,  in  666,  comes  to  this  same  conclusion.  No 
his  'Osteographie,  Canidaj,'  p.  142,  has  one  has  argued  on  this  side  with  more 
largely  discussed  the  whole  subject  and  clearness  and  force  than  the  late  James 
concludes  that  the  extinct  parent  of  all  Wilson,  of  Edinburgh,  in  various  papers 
domesticated  dogs  came  nearest  to  the  read  before  the  Highland  Agricultural 
wolf  in  organization,  and  to  the  jackal  in  and  Wernerian  Societies.  Isidor  Geof- 
habits.  froy  St.  Hilaire  ('Hist.  Nut.  Gen.,'  1S60, 

2  Pallas,  I  believe,  originated  this  doc-  torn.  Hi.  p.  107),  though  he  believes  that 
trine  in  '  Act.  Aead.  St,  Petersburgh,'  most  dogs  have  descended  from  the  jack- 
17S0,  Partii.  Ehrenberg  has  advocated  al,  yet  inclines  to  the  belief  that  some  are 
it,  as  may  be  seen  in  De  Blainville's  descended  from  the  wolf.  Prof.  Gervais 
•  Osteographie,'  p.  79.  It  has  been  carried  ('  Hist,  Nat.  Mamm.,'  1855,  torn.  ii.  p.  69), 
to  an  extreme  extent  by  Col.  Hamilton  referring  to  the  view  that  all  the  domestic 
Smith  in  the  '  Naturalist  Library,'  vol.  ix.  raoes  are  the  modified  descendants  of  a 
and  x.  Mr.  W.  C  Martin  adopts  it  in  single  species,  after  a  long  discussion, 
his  excellent '  History  of  the  Dog,'  1845 ;  says,  "  Cette  opinion  est,  suiyantnous  du 
as  does  Dr.  Morton,  as  well  as  Nott  and  moins,  la  moins  probable." 


Chap.  i.  TIIEIll    PARENTAGE.  29 

tween  the  several  breeds;  but  this  will  appear  of  com- 
paratively little  weight,  after  Ave  shall  have  seen  how 
great  are  the  differences  between  the  several  races  of 
various  domesticated  animals  which  certainly  have  de- 
scended from  a  single  parent-form.  Secondly,  the  more 
important  fact  that,  at  the  most  anciently  known  histori- 
cal periods,  several  breeds  of  the  dog  existed,  very  unlike 
each  other,  and  closely  resembling  or  identical  with  breeds 
still  alive. 

We  will  briefly  run  back  through  the  historical  records. 
The  materials  are  remarkably  deficient  between  the  four- 
teenth century  and  the  Roman  classical  period.3  At  this 
earlier  period  various  breeds,  namely  hounds,  house-dogs, 
lapdogs,  &c,  existed ;  but  as  Dr.  Walther  has  remarked 
it  is  impossible  to  recognise  the  greater  number  with  any- 
certainty.  Youatt,  however,  gives  a  drawing  of  a  beau- 
tiful sculpture  of  two  greyhound  puppies  from  the  Villa 
of  Antoninus.  On  an  Assyrian  monument,  about  640  B.C., 
an  enormous  mastiff4  is  figured  ;  and  according  to  Sir  H. 
Rawlinson  (as  I  was  informed  at  the  British  Museum), 
similar  dogs  are  still  imported  into  this  same  country.  I 
have  looked  through  the  magnificent  works  of  Lepsius 
and  Rosellini,  and  on  the  monuments  from  the  fourth  to 
the  twelfth  dynasties  (i.e.  from  about  3400  B.C.  to  2100 
b.c.)  several  varieties  of  the  dog  are  represented  ;  most 
of  them  are  allied  to  greyhounds;  at  the  later  of  these 
periods  a  dog  resembling  a  hound  is  figured,  with  droop- 
ing ears,  but  with  a  longer  back  and  more  pointed  head 


3  Berjeau,  '  The  Varieties  of  the  Dog ;  from  the  tomb  of  the  son  of  Esar  Had- 
in  old  Sculptures  and  Pictures,'  1S63.  don,  and  clay  models  in  the  British  Mu- 
'  Der  Hund,'  von  Dr.  F.  L.  Walther,  s.  48,  seum.  Nott  and  Gliddon,  in  their 
Giessen,  1S17 :  this  author  seems  care-  '  Types  of  Mankind,'  1S54,  p.  393,  give  a 
fully  to  have  studied  all  classical  works  copy  of  these  drawings.  This  dog  has 
on  the  subject.  See  also  '  Volz,  Beitrage  been  called  a  Thibetan  mastiff,  but  Mr. 
zur  Kulturgeschichte,'  Leipzig,  l$.r>2,  s.  H.  A.  Oldfield,  who  is  familiar  with  the 
1 13.  '  Youatt  on  the  Dog,'  134o,  p.  6.  A  so-called  Thibet  mastiff,  and  lias  examiu- 
very  full  history  is  given  by  De  Blainville  ed  the  drawings  in  the  British  Museum, 
in  his  '  Osteographie,  Canidae.'  informs  me  that  he  considers  them  dif- 

4  I  have  seen  drawings  of  this  dog  ferent. 


30  DOGS.  Chap.  I. 

than  in  our  hounds.  There  is,  also,  a  turnspit,  with  short 
and  crooked  legs,  closely  resembling  the  existing  variety  ; 
but  this  kind  of  monstrosity  is  so  common  with  various 
animals,  as  with  the  ancon  sheep,  and  even,  according  to 
Rengger,  with  jaguars  in  Paraguay,  that  it  would  be  rash 
to  look  at  the  monumental  animal  as  the  parent  of  all  our 
turnspits  :  Colonel  Sykes  5  also  has  described  an  Indian 
Pariah  dog  as  presenting  the  same  monstrous  character. 
The  most  ancient  dog  represented  on  the  Egyptian  mo- 
numents is  One  of  the  most  singular  ;  it  resembles  a  grey- 
hound, but  has  long  pointed  ears  and  a  short  curled  tail : 
a  closely  allied  variety  still  exists  in  Northern  Africa  ;  for 
Mr.  E.  Vernon  Harcourt 6  states  that  the  Arab  boar-hound 
is  "  an  eccentric  hieroglyphic  animal,  such  as  Cheops  once 
hunted  with,  somewhat  resembling  the  rough  Scotch 
deer-hound  ;  their  tails  are  curled  tight  round  on  their 
backs,  and  their  ears  stick  out  at  right  angles."  "With 
this  most  ancient  variety  a  pariah-like  dog  coexisted. 

We  thus  see  that,  at  a  period  between  four  and  five 
thousand  years  ago,  various  breeds,  viz.  pariah  dogs, 
greyhounds,  common  hounds,  mastiffs,  house-dogs,  lap- 
dogs,  and  turnspits,  existed,  more  or  less  closely  resem- 
bling our  present  breeds.  But  there  is  not  sufficient 
evidence  that  any  of  these  ancient  dogs  belonged  to  the 
same  idential  sub-varieties  with  our  present  dogs.7  As 
long  as  man  was  believed  to  have  existed  on  this  earth 
only  about  6000  years,  this  fact  of  the  great  diversity 
of  the  breeds  at  so  early  a  period  was  an  argument  of 
much  weight  that  they  had  proceeded  from  several  wild 
sources,  for  there  would  not  have  been  sufficient  time  for 


8  'Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,'  July  l?th,  1831.  living  dogs.    Messrs.  Nott  and  Gliddon 

*  'Sporting  in  Algeria,'  p.  51.  ('Types  of  Mankind,'  1854,  p.  38S)  give 

'  Berjeau     gives    fac-similes    of    the  still  more  numerous  figures.     Mr.  Glid- 

Egyptian  drawings.     Mr.  C.  L.Martin,  don  asserts  that  a  curl-tailed  greyhound, 

in  his  '  History  of  the  Dog,'  1845,  copies  like  that  represented  on  the  most  ancient 

several  figures  from  the  Egyptian  monu-  monuments,  is  common  in  Borneo ;  but 

ments,  and  speaks  with  much  confidence  the  Rajah,  Sir  J.   Brooke,  informs  me 

with  respect  to  their  identity  with  still  that  no  such  dog  exists  there. 


Chap.  I.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  31 

their  divergence  and  modification.  But  now  that  we 
know,  from  the  discovery  of  flint  tools  embedded  with 
the  remains  of  extinct  animals  in  districts  which  have 
since  undergone  great  geographical  changes,  that  man 
has  existed  for  an  incomparably  longer  period,  and  bear- 
ing in  mind  that  the  most  barbarous  nations  possess  do- 
mestic dogs,  the  argument  from  insufficient  time  falls 
away  greatly  in  value. 

Long  before  the  period  of  any  historical  record  the  dog 
was  domesticated  in  Europe.  In  the  Danish  Middens  of 
the  Neolithic  or  Newer  Stone  period,  bones  of  a  canine 
animal  are  imbedded,  and  Steenstrup  ingeniously  argues 
that  these  belonged  to  a  domestic  dog  ;  for  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  bones  of  birds  preserved  in  the  refuse, 
consists  of  long  bones,  which  it  was  found  on  trial  dogs 
cannot  devour.8  This  ancient  dog  was  succeeded  in  Den- 
mark during  the  Bronze  period  by  a  larger  kind,  present- 
ing certain  differences,  and  this  again  during  the  Iron 
period,  by  a  still  larger  kind.  In  Switzerland  we  hear 
from  Prof.  Rutimeyer,9  that  during  the  Neolithic  period 
a  domesticated  dog  of  middle  size  existed,  which  in  its 
skull  was  about  equally  remote  from  the  wolf  and  jackal, 
and  partook  of  the  characters  of  our  hounds  and  setters 
or  spaniels  (Jagdhund  und  Wachtelhund).  Rutimeyer 
insists  strongly  on  the  constancy  of  form  during  a  very 
long  period  of  time  of  this  the  most  ancient  known  dog. 
During  the  Bronze  period  a  larger  dog  appeared,  and  this 
closely  resembled  in  its  jaw  a  dog  of  the  same  age  in 
Denmark.  Remains  of  two  notably  distinct  varieties  of 
the  dog  were  found  by  Schmerling  in  a  cave ; 10  but  their 
age  cannot  be  positively  determined. 

The  existence  of  a  single  race,  remarkably  constant  in 


8  These,  and  the  following  facts  on  the  9  '  Die  Fauna  der  Pfahlbauten,'  1861, 

Danish  remains,  are  taken  from  M.  Mor-  s.  117,  162. 

lot's  most  interesting  memoir  in  'Soc.  10  De   Blainville,   '  Ostdographie,  Ca- 

Vaudoise  des  Sc.  Nat.,'  torn,  vi.,  1S60,  ntdse.' 
pp.  281,  299,  820. 


32  DOGS.  Chap.  I. 

» 

form  during  the  whole  Neolithic  period,  is  an  interesting 
fact  in  contrast  with  what  we  see  of  the  changes  Avhich 
the  races  underwent  during  the  period  of  the  successive 
Egyptian  monuments,  and  in  contrast  with  our  existing 
dogs.  The  character  of  this  animal  during  the  Neolithic 
period,  as  given  by  Rutimeyer,  supports  De  Blainville's 
view  that  our  varieties  have  descended  from  an  unknown 
and  extinct  form.  But  we  should  not  forget  that  we 
know  nothing  with  respect  to  the  antiquity  of  man  in  the 
warmer  parts  of  the  world.  The  succession  of  the  differ- 
ent kinds  of  dogs  in  Switzerland  and  Denmark  is  thought 
to  be  due  to  the  immigration  of  conquering  tribes  bring- 
ing with  them  their  dogs  ;  and  thia  view  accords  with 
the  belief  that  different  wild  canine  animals  were  domes- 
ticated in  different  regions.  Independently  of  the  im- 
migration of  new  races  of  man,  we  know  from  the  wide- 
spread presence  of  bronze,  composed  of  an  alloy  of  tin, 
how  much  commerce  there  must  have  been  throughout 
Europe  at  an  extremely  remote  period,  and  dogs  would 
then  probably  have  been  bartered.  .At  the  present  time, 
amongst  the  savages  of  the  interior  of  Guiana,  the  Taruma 
Indians  are  considered  the  best  trainers  of  dogs,  and  pos- 
sess a  large  breed,  which  they  barter  at  a  high  price  with 
other  tribes.11 

The  main  argument  in  favour  of  the  several  breeds  of 
the  dog  being  the  descendants  of  distinct  wild  stocks,  is 
their  resemblance  in  various  countries  to  distinct  species 
still  existing  there.  It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that 
the  comparison  between  the  wild  and  domesticated  ani- 
mal has  been  made  but  in  few  cases  with  sufficient  exact- 
ness. Before  entering  on  details,  it  will  be  well  to  show 
that  there  is  no  a  priori  difficulty  in  the  belief  that  seve- 
ral canine  species  have  been  domesticated  ;  for  there  is 
much  difficulty  in  this  respect  with  some  other  domestic 


11  Sir  It.  Schomburgk  has  given  me       'Journal  of  R.    Geograph.    Soc.,'   vol. 
Information    on   this   head.     See   also       xiii.,  1848,  p.  65. 


Chap.  I.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  33 

quadrupeds  arid  birds.  Members  of  the  dog  family  in- 
habit nearly  the  whole  world  ;  and  several  species  agree 
pretty  closely  in  habits  and  structure  with  our  several 
domesticated  dogs.  Mr.  Galton  has  shown  :2  how  fond 
savages  are  of  keeping  and  taming  animals  of  all  kinds. 
Social  animals  are  the  most  easily  subjugated  by  man, 
and  several  species  of  Canidoe  hunt  in  packs.  It  deserves 
notice,  as  bearing  on  other  animals  as  well  as  on  the  dog, 
that  at  an  extremely  ancient  period,  when  man  first  en- 
tered any  country,  the  animals  living  there  would  have 
felt  no  instinctive  or  inherited  fear  of  him,  and  would 
consequently  have  been  tamed  far  more  easily  than  at 
present.  For  instance,  when  the  Falkland  Islands  were 
first  visited  by  man,  the  large  wolf-like  dog  (Canis  an- 
tarcticus)  fearlessly  came  to  meet  Byron's  sailors,  who, 
mistaking  this  ignorant  curiosity  for  ferocity,  ran  into 
the  water  to  avoid  them :  even  recently  a'  man,  by  hold- 
ing a  piece  of  meat  in  one  hand  and  a  knife  in  the  other, 
could  sometimes  stick  them  at  night.  On  an  island  in  the 
Sea  of  Aral,  when  first  discovered  by  Butakoff,  the  saigak 
antelopes,  which  are  "  generally  very  timid  and  watchful, 
did  not  fly  from  us,  but  on  the  contrary  looked  at  us  with 
a  sort  of  curiosity."  So,  again,  on  the  shores  of  the  Mau- 
ritius, the  manatee  was  not  at  first  in  the  least  afraid  of 
man,  and  thus  it  has  been  in  several  quarters  of  the  world 
with  seals  and  the  morse.  I  have  elsewhere  shown 13  how 
slowly  the  native  birds  of  several  islands  have  acquired 
and  inherited  a  salutary  dread  of  man  :  at  the  Galapagos 
Archipelago  I  pushed  with  the  muzzle  of  my  gun  hawks 
from  a  branch,  and  held  out  a  pitcher  of  water  for  other 
birds  to  alight  on  and  drink.  Quadi-upeds  and  birds 
which  have  seldom  been  disturbed  by  man,  dread  him 


«  'Domestication  of  Animals:'  Eth-  ticus,  see  p.  193.     For  the  case  of  the  an- 

nological  Soc,  Dec.  22nd,  1863.  telope,  see  '  Journal  Royal  Geograph. 

>»  '  Journal  of  Researches,'  Ac,  1845,  Soc.,'  vol.  xxiii.  p.  94. 
p.  893.    With  respect  to  Canis  antarc- 


34  DOGS.  Chap.  I. 

no  more  than  do  our  English  birds  the  cows  or  horses 
grazing  in  the  fields. 

It  is  a  more  important  consideration  that  several  canine 
species  evince  (as  will  be  shown  in  a  future  chapter),  no 
strong  repugnance  or  inability  to  breed  under  confinement ; 
and  the  incapacity  to  breed  under  confinement  is  one  of 
the  commonest  bars  to  domestication.  Lastly,  savages 
set  the  highest  value,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  chapter  on 
Selection,  on  dogs :  even  half-tamed  animals  are  highly 
useful  to  them :  the  Indians  of  North  America  cross  their 
half-wild  dogs  with  wolves,  and  thus  render  them  even 
wilder  than  before,  but  bolder :  the  savages  of  Guiana 
catch  and  partially  tame  and  use  the  whelps  of  two  wild 
species  of  Canis,  as  do  the  savages  of  Australia  those  of 
the  wild  Dingo.  Mr.  Philip  King  informs  me  that  he 
once  trained  a  wild  Dingo  puppy  to  drive  cattle,  and 
found  it  very  useful.  From  these  several  considerations 
we  see  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  believing  that  man 
might  have  domesticated  various  canine  species  in  differ- 
ent countries.  It  Avould  indeed  have  been  a  strange  fact 
if  one  species  alone  had  been  domesticated  throughout 
the  Avorld. 

We  will  now  enter  into  details.  The  accurate  and  sa- 
gacious Richardson  says,  "  The  resemblance  between  the 
Northern  American  wolves  ( Canis  lupus,  var.  occidenta- 
lis)  and  the  domestic  dogs  of  the  Indians  is  so  great  that 
the  size  and  strength  of  the  wolf  seems  to  be  the  only 
difference.  I  have  more  than  once  mistaken  a  band  of 
wolves  for  the  dogs  of  a  party  of  Indians ;  and  the  howl 
of  the  animals  of  both  species  is  prolonged  so  exactly  in 
the  same  key  that  even  the  practised  ear  of  the  Indian 
fails  at  times  to  discriminate  them."  He  adds  that  the 
more  northern  Esquimaux  dogs  are  not  only  extremely 
like  the  grey  wolves  of  the  Arctic  circle  in  form  and 
colour,  but  also  nearly  equal  them  in  size.  Dr.  Kane  has 
often  seen  in  his  teams  of  sledge-dogs  the  oblique  eye  (a 
character  on  which  some  naturalists  lay  great  stress),  the 


Chap.  I.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  35 

drooping  tail,  and  scared  look  of  the  wolf.  In  disposi- 
tion the  Esquimaux  dogs  differ  little  from  wolves,  and, 
according  to  Dr.  Hayes,  they  are  capable  of  no  attach- 
ment to  man,  and  are  so  savage,  that  when  hungry  they 
will  attack  even  their  masters.  According  to  Kane  they 
readily  become  feral.  Their  affinity  is  so  close  with 
wolves  that  they  frequently  cross  with  them,  and  the 
Indians  take  the  whelps  of  wolves  "  to  improve  the  breed 
of  their  dogs."  The  half-bred  wolves  sometimes  (Larnare- 
Picquot)  cannot  be  tamed,  "  though  this  case  is  rai*e  ;"  but 
they  do  not  become  thoroughly  well  broken  in  till  the 
second  or  third  generation.  These  facts  show  that  there 
can  be  but  little,  if  any,  sterility  between  the  Esquimaux 
dog  and  the  wolf,  for  otherwise  they  would  not  be  used 
to  improve  the  breed.  As  Dr.  Hayes  says  of  these  dogs, 
"  reclaimed  wolves  they  doubtless  are."  14 

North  America  is  inhabited  by  a  second  kind  of  wolf, 
the  prairie-wolf  (Canis  latrans),  which  is  now  looked  at 
by  all  naturalists  as  specifically  distinct  from  the  com- 
mon wolf;  and  is,  according  to  Mr.  J.  K.  Lord,  in  some 
respects  intermediate  in  habits  between  a  wolf  and  a  fox. 
Sir  J.  Richardson,  after  describing  the  Hai'e  Indian  dog, 
which  differs  in  many  respects  from  the  Esquimaux  dog, 
says,  "  It  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  prairie  wolf  that 
the  Esquimaux  dog  does  to  the  great  grey  wolf."  He 
could,  in  fact,  detect  no  marked  difference  between  them  ; 
and  Messrs.  Nott  and  Gliddon  give  additional  details 
showing  their  close  resemblance.    The  dogs  derived  from 


14  Tbe  authorities  for  the  foregoing  ing  in  the  eastern  parts  of  North  Ameri- 

statements  are  as  fullow: — Richardson,  ca.     Seeman,  in  his  'Voyage  of  H.M.S. 

in  '  Fauna  Boreali-Americana,1  1S29,  pp.  Herald,'  1853,  vol.  ii.  p.  26,  says  the  wolf 

64,  75;  Dr.  Kane,  '  Arctic  Explorations,'  is  often  caught  by  the  Esquimaux  for  the 

1356,  vol.  i.   pp.  398,  455 ;   Dr.   Hayes,  purpose  of  crossing  with  their  dogs,  and 

'  Arctic    Boat   Journey,'  1860,    p.   167.  thus  adding  to  their  size  and  strength. 

Franklin's  '  Narrative,'   vol.   i.   p.  269,  M.  Lamare-Picquot,  in  '  Bull,  de  la.  Soc. 

gives  the  case  of  three  whelps  of  a  black  d'Acclimat.,'  torn,  vii.,  1S60,  p.  148,  gives 

wolf  being  carried  away  by  the  Indians.  a  good  account  of  the  half-bred  Esqui- 

Parry,  Richardson,  and  others,  give  ac-  maux  dogs, 
counts  of  wolves  and  dogs  naturally  cross- 


36  DOGS.  Cbup.  I. 

the  above  two  aboriginal  sources  cross  together  and  with 
the  wild  wolves,  at  least  with  the  C.  occidentalism  and  with 
European  dogs.  In  Florida,  according  to  Bartram,  the 
black  wolf-dog  of  the  Indians  differs  in  nothing  from  the 
wolves  of  that  country  except  in  barking.16 

Turning  to  the  southern  parts  of  the  New  World, 
Columbus  found  two  kinds  of  dogs  in  the  West  Indies ; 
and  Fernandez 16  describes  three  in  Mexico :  some  of 
these  native  dogs  were  dumb — that  is,  did  not  bark.  In 
Guiana  it  ha*s  been  known  since  the  time  of  Buffon  that 
the  natives  cross  their  dogs  with  an  aboriginal  species, 
apparently  the  C'anis  cancrivorus.  Sir  R.  Schomburgk, 
who  has  so  carefully  explored  these  regions,  writes  to  me, 
"  I  have  been  repeatedly  told  by  the  Arawaak  Indians, 
who  reside  near  the  coast,  that  they  cross  their  dogs  with 
a  wild  species  to  improve  the  breed,  and  individual  dogs 
have  been  shown  to  me  which  certainly  resembled  the  C 
cancrivorus  much  more  than  the  common  breed.  It  is 
but  seldom  that  the  Indians  keep  the.  C.  cancrivorus  for 
domestic  purposes,  nor  is  the  Ai,  another  species  of  wild 
dog,  and  which  I  consider  to  be  identical  with  the  Dicsi- 
cyon  silvestris  of  H.  Smith,  now  much  used  by  the  Are- 
cunas  for  the  purpose  of  hunting.  The  dogs  of  the 
Taruma  Indians  are  quite  distinct,  and  resemble  Buffon's 
St.  Domingo  greyhound."  It  thus  appears  that  the 
natives  of  Guiana  have  partially  domesticated  two  abo- 
riginal species,  and  still  cross  their  dogs  with  them ;  these 
two  species  belong  to  a  quite  different  type  from  the 
North  American  and  European  wolves.    A  careful  observ- 


18  '  Fauna  Boreali-Americana,'  1829,  vol.  ii.  p.  218),  says  that  the  Indian  dog 
pp.  73, 78,  80.  Nott  and  Gliddon, '  Types  of  the  Spokans,  near  the  Rocky  Moun- 
of  Mankind,'  p.  3S3.  The  naturalist  and  tains,  "  is  beyond  all  question  nothing 
traveller  Bartram  is  quoted  by  Hamilton  more  than  a  tamed  Cayote  or  prairie- 
Smith,  in  '  Nat.  Hist.  Lib.,'  vol.  x.  p.  156.  wolf,"  or  Canis  latram. 
A  Mexican  domestic  dog  seems  also  to  ie  I  quote  this  from  Mr.  R.  Hill's 
resemble  a  wild  dog  of  the  same  country ;  excellent  account  of  the  Alco  or  domes- 
but  this  may  be  the  prairie-wolf.  Another  tic  dog  of  Mexico,  in  Gosse's  'Natural- 
capable  judge,  Mr.  J.  K.  Lord  ('  The  ist's  Sojourn  in  Jamaica,'  1851,  p.  329. 
Naturalist  in  Vancouver  Island,'  1866, 


Cnir.  I.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  37 

er,  Rengger,17  gives  reasons  for  believing  that  a  hairless 
dog  was  domesticated  when  America  was  first  visited  by- 
Europeans  :  some  of  these  dogs  in  Paraguay  are  still 
dumb,  and  Tschudi 18  states  that  they  suffer  from  cold  in 
the  Cordillera.  This  naked  dog  is,  however,  quite  distinct 
from  that  found  preserved  in  the  ancient  Peruvian  burial- 
places,  and  described  by  Tschudi,  under  the  name  of 
Canis  Ingce,  as  withstanding  cold  well  and  as  barking.  It 
is  not  known  whether  these  two  distinct  kinds  of  dog  are 
the  descendants  of  native  species,  and  it  might  be  argued 
that  when  man  first  migrated  into  America  he  brought 
with  him  from  the  Asiatic  continent  dogs  which  had 
not  learned  to  bark;  but  this  view  does  not  seem  probable, 
as  the  natives  along  the  line  of  their  march  from  the 
north  reclaimed,  as  we  have  seen,  at  least  two  1ST.  Ameri- 
can species  of  Canidre. 

Turning  to  the  Old  World,  some  European  dogs  closely 
resemble  the  wolf;  thus  the  shepherd  dog  of  the  plains 
of  Hungary  is  white  or  reddish-brown,  has  a  sharp  nose, 
short,  erect  ears,  shaggy  coat,  and  bushy  tail,  and  so  much 
resembles  a  wolf  that  Mr.  Paget,  who  gives  this  descrip- 
tion, says  he  has  known  a  Hungarian  mistake  a  wolf  for 
one  of  his  own  dogs.  Jeitteles,  also,  remarks  on  the 
close  similarity  of  the  Hungarian  dog  and  wolf.  Shep- 
herd dogs  in  Italy  must  anciently  have  closely  resembled 
wolves,  for  Columella  (vii.  12)  advises  that  white  dogs 
be  kept,  adding,  "pastor  album  probat,  ne  pro  lupo 
canem  feriat."  Several  accounts  have  been  given  of  dogs 
and  wolves  crossing  naturally ;  and  Pliny  asserts  that 
the  Gauls  tied  their  female  dogs  in  the  woods  that  they 
might  cross  with  wolves.19    The  European  wolf  differs 


17  ' Naturgeschichte  der  Saeugethiere  'Fauna  Hungaria;  Supcrloris,'  1862,  s. 
von  Paraguay,'  1S30,  s.  151.  13.      See  Pliny,  '  Hist,   of  the  World  ' 

18  Quoted  in  Humboldt's  '  Aspects  (Eng.  transl.),  8th  book,  ch.  xl.,  about 
of  Nature,'  Eng.  transl.,  vol.  i.  p.  the  Gauls  crossing  their  dogs.  See  also 
108.  Aristotle,    'Hist.    Animal.'  lib.    viii.    c. 

19  Paget's  'Travels  in  Hungary  and  2S.  For  good  evidence  about  wolves 
Transylvania,'  vol.  i.  p.  501.    Jeitteles,  and    dogs  naturally  crossing  near  the 


38  DOGS.  Chap.  I. 

slightly  from  that  of  North  America,  and  has  been  ranked 
by  many  naturalists  as  a  distinct  species.  The  common 
wolf  of  India  is  also  by  some  esteemed  as  a  third  species, 
and  here  again  we  find  a  marked  resemblance  between 
the  pariah  dogs  of  certain  districts  of  India  and  the 
Indian  wolf.20    - 

With  respect  to  Jackals,  Isidore  Geoffroy  Saint  Hi- 
laire 21  says  that  not  one  constant  difference  can  be  pointed 
out  between  their  structure  and  that  of  the  smaller  races 
of  dogs.  They  agree  closely  in  habits :  jackals,  when 
tamed  and  called  by  their  master,  wag  their  tails,  crouch, 
and  throw  themselves  on  their  backs ;  they  smell  at  the 
tails  of  dogs,  and  void  their  urine  sideways.23  A  number 
of  excellent  naturalists,  from  the  time  of  Giildenstadt  to 
that  of  Ehrenberg,  Hemprich,  and  Cretzschmar,  have 
expressed  themselves  in  the  strongest  terms  with  respect 
to  the  resemblance  of  the  half-domestic  dogs  of  Asia 
and  Egypt  to  jackals.  M.  Nordmann,  for  instance,  says, 
"  Les  chiens  d'Awhasie  ressemblent  etonnamment  a  des 
chacals."  Ehrenberg  "  asserts  that  the  domestic  dogs  of 
Lower  Egypt,  and  certain  mummied  dogs,  have  for  their 
wild  type  a  species  of  wolf  (  C.  lupaster)  of  the  country ; 
whereas  the  domestic  dogs  of  Nubia  and  certain  other 
mummied  dogs  have  the  closest  relation  to  a  wild  species 
of  the  same  country,  viz.  C.  sabbar,  which  is  only  a  form 
of  the  common  jackal.  Pallas  asserts  that  jackals  and 
dogs  sometimes  naturally  cross  in  the  East ;  and  a  case  is 


Pyrenees,  see  M.  Mauduyt,  '  Du  Loup  borative  evidence  with  respjct  to  the 

et  de  ses   Races,'  Poitiers,   1851 ;   also  dogs  of  the  valley  of  the  Nerbudda. 

Pallas,  in  '  Acta  Acad.  St.  Petersburgh,'  21  For  numerous  and  interesting  de- 

17S0,  part  ii.  p.  94.  tails  on  the  resemblance   of  dogs  and 

20  I  give  this  on  excellent  authority,  jackals,  gee  Isid.   Geoffroy  St.   Hilaire, 

namely,  Mr.  Blyth  (under  the  signature  '  Hist.  Nat.  Gen.,'  1860,  torn.  iii.  p.  101. 

of  Zoophilus),   in  the  '  Indian  Sporting  See  also  '  Hist.  Nat.   des  Mammiferes,' 

Review,'  Oct.  1S56,  p.  134.     Mr.   Blyth  par  Prof.  Gervais,  1855,  torn.  ii.  p.  60. 

stat-js    that    he    was    struck    with    the  2a  Giildenstadt, '  Nov.  Comment.  Acad, 

resemblance  between  a  brush-tailed  race  Petrop.,'  torn,  xx.,  pro  anno  1775,  p.  449. 

of  pariah-dogs,  north-west  of  Cawnpore,  23  Quoted    by  De    Blainville    in    his 

and  the  Indian  wolf.    He  gives  corro-  '  Osteographie,  Canidae,'  pp.  79,  93. 


Chap.  I.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  39 

on  record  in  Algeria."  The  greater  number  of  naturalists 
divide  the  jackals  of  Asia  and  Africa  into  several  species, 
but  some  few  rank  them  all  as  one. 

I  may  add  that  the  domestic  dogs  on  the  coast  of  Gui- 
nea are  foxlike  animals,  and  are  dumb.26  On  the  east 
coast  of  Africa,  between  lat.  4°  and  6°  south,  and  about 
ten  days'  journey  in  the  interior,  a  semi-domestic  dog,  as 
the  Rev.  S.  Erhardt  informs  me,  is  kept,  which  the  na- 
tives assert  is  derived  from  a  similar  wild  animal.  Lich- 
tenstein  ~6  says  that  the  dogs  of  the  Bosjemans  present  a 
striking  resemblance  even  in  colour  (excepting  the  black 
stripe  down  the  back)  with  the  G.  mesomelas  of  South 
Africa.  Mr.  E.  Layard  informs  me  that  he  has  seen  a 
Caifre  dog  which  closely  resembled  an  Esquimaux  dog. 
In  Australia  the  Dingo  is  both  domesticated  and  wild; 
though  this  animal  may  have  been  introduced  aboriginally 
by  man,  yet  it  must  be  considered  as  almost  an  endemic 
form,  for  its  remains  have  been  found  in  a  similar  state  of 
preservation  and  associated  with  extinct  mammals,  so  that 
its  introduction  must  have  been  ancient." 

From  this  resemblance  in  several  countries  of  the  half- 
domesticated  dogs  to  the  wild  species  still  living  there, 
— from  the  facility  with  which  they  can  often  be  crossed 
together, — from  even  half-tamed  animals  being  so  much 
valued  by  savages, — and  from  the  other  circumstances 
previously  remarked  on  which  favour  their  domestication, 
it  is  highly  probable  that  the  domestic  dogs  of  the  world 
have  descended  from  two  good  species  of  wolf  (viz.  61 
.lupus  and  C.  latrans),  and  from  two  or  three  other  doubt- 


84  See  Pallas,   in    '  Act.  Acad.  St.  Pe-  -7  SelwyD,  Geology  of  Victoria ;'  Jour- 

tersburgh,'  1780,    part    ii.    p.  91.     For  nal  of  Geolog.  Soc.,'  vol.  xiv.,  185S,  p. 

Algeria,  see  Isiil.  Oeoffroy  St.  Hilaire,  536,  and  vol.   xvi.,   1860,   p.  148  ;  and 

'  Hist.  Nat.   Gen.,' torn.  iii.   p.   177.     In  Prof.  M'Coy,  in  'Annate  and  Mag.  of  Nat. 

both  countries  it  is    the    male    jackal  Hist.'  (3rd  series),  vol.  ix.,  lS6i,  p.  147. 

which  pairs  with  female  domestic  dogs.  The  Dingo  differs  from  the  dogs  of  the 

25  John  Barbut's  '  Description  of  the  central  Polynesian  islands.    Dleffenbach 

Coast  of  Guinea  in  1746.'  remarks  ('Travels,'  vol.  ii.  p.  46)  that 

28  '  Travels  in  South  Africa,'  vol.  Ii.  p.  the  native  New  Zealand  dog  also  differs 

272.  from  the  Dingo. 


40  DOGS.  Chap,  ft 

ful  species  of  wolves  (namely,  the  European,  Indian,  and 
North  African  forms) ;  from  at  least  one  or  two  South 
American^  canine  species ;  from  several  races  or  species 
of  the  jackal ;  and  perhaps  from  one  or  more  extinct  spe- 
cies. Those  authors  who  attribute  great  influence  to  the 
action  of  climate  by  itself  may  thus  account  for  the  re- 
semblance of  the  domesticated  dogs  and  native  animals 
in  the  same  countries  ;  but  I  know  of  no  facts  supporting 
the  belief  in  so  powerful  an  action  of  climate. 

It  cannot  be  objected  to  the  view  of  several  canine 
species  having  been  anciently  domesticated,  that  these 
animals  are  tamed  with  difficulty  :  facts  have  been  already 
given  on  this  head,  but  I  may  add  that  the  young  of  the 
Canas  primwmis  of  India  were  tamed  by  Mr.  Hodgson,28 
and  became  as  sensible  to  caresses,  and  manifested  as 
much  intelligence,  as  any  sporting  dog  of  the  same  age. 
There  is  not  much  difference,  as  we  have  already  shown 
and  shall  immediately  further  see,  in  habits  between  the 
domestic  dogs  of  the  North  American  Indians  and  the 
wolves  of  that  country,  or  between  the  Eastern  pariah 
dogs  and  jackals,  or  between  the  dogs  which  have  run 
wild  in  various  countries  and  the  several  natural  species 
of  the  family.  The  habit  of  barking,  however,  which  is 
almost  universal  with  domesticated  dogs,  and  which  does 
not  characterise  a  single  natural  species  of  the  family, 
seems  an  exception ;  but  this  habit  is  soon  lost  and  soon 
reacquired.  The  case  of  the  wild  dogs  on  the  island  of 
Juan  Fernandez  having  become  dumb  has  often  been 
quoted,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe29  that  the  dumb- 
ness ensued  in  the  course  of  thirty-three  years ;  on  the 
other  hand,  dogs  taken  from  this  island  by  Ulloa  slowly 
reacquired  the  habit  of  barking.     The  Mackenzie-river 


28  'Proceedings  Zoolog.  Soc.,' 1S33,  p.  'History  Nat.  Mamm.,'  torn.   ii.  p.  61. 

112.    See,  also,  on   the  taming  of  the  With  respect  to  the  aguara  of  Paraguay, 

common  wolf,  L.  Lloyd,  '  Scandinavian  see  Rengger's  work. 

Adventures,'  vol.  i.  p.  460,  1854.     With  2>  Roulin,  in  '  Mem.  present,  par  di- 

respect  to  the  jackal,  see  Prof.  Gervais,  vers  Savans,'  torn.  vi.  p.  341. 


Chap.  I.  THEIR    PARENT  AGE.  .        41 

dogs,  of  the  Canis  latrans  type,  when  brought  to  Eng- 
land, never  learned  to  hark  properly ;  but  one  born  in 
the  Zoological  Gardens30  "made  his  voice  sound  as  loud- 
ly as  any  other  dog  of  the  same  age  and  size."  Accord- 
ing to  Professor  Nillson,31  a  wolf-whelp  reared  by  a  bitch 
barks.  I.  Geoffroy  Saint  Ililaire  exhibited  a  jackal  which 
barked  with  the  same  tone  as  any  common  dog.3a  An 
interesting  account  has  been  given  by  Mr.  G.  Clarke 3S 
of  some  dogs  run  wild  on  Juan  de  Nova,  in  the  Indian 
Ocean  ;  "  they  had  entirely  lost  the  faculty  of  barking ; 
they  had  no  inclination  for  the  company  of  other  dogs, 
nor  did  they  acquire  their  voice,"  during  a  captivity  of 
several  months.  On  the  island  they  "  congregate  in  vast 
packs,  and  catch  sea-birds  with  as  much  address  as  foxes 
could  display."  The  feral  dogs  of  La  Plata  have  not 
become  dumb ;  they  are  of  large  size,  hunt  single  or  in 
packs,  and  burrow  holes  for  their  young.34  In  these  ha- 
bits the.  feral  dogs  of  La  Plata  resemble  wolves  and 
jackals;  both  of  which  hunt  either  singly  or  in  packs, 
and  burrow  holes.35  These  feral  dogs  have  not  become 
uniform  in  colour  on  Juan  Fernandez,  Juan  de  Nova,  or 
La  Plata.36  In  Cuba  the  feral  dogs  are  described  by 
Poeppig  as  nearly  all  mouse-coloured,  with  short  ears  and 
light-blue  eyes.  In  St.  Domingo,  Col.  Ham.  Smith  says" 
that  the  feral  dogs  are  very  large,  like  greyhounds,  of  a 
uniform  pale  blue-ash,  with  small  ears,  and  large  light- 
brown  eyes.     Even  the  wild  Dingo,  though  so  anciently 


30  Martin, 'History  of  the  Dog,' p.  14.  '  Discours,   Exposition    des    Races    Ca- 

*    31  Quoted  by  L.  Lloyd  in  '  Field  Sports  nines,'  1S65,  p.  3. 

of  North  of  Europe,'  vol.  i.  p.  3S7.  3S  With  respect  to  wolves  burrowing 

33  Quatrefages,     '  Soc.    d'Acclimat.,'  holes,  see  Richardson,  '  Fauna  Boreali- 

May  11th,  1S63,  p.  7.  Americana,'  p.  64 ;  and  Bechstcin,  '  Na- 

33  'Annals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,'  turgesch.  Deutchlands,'  b.  i.  s.  617. 
vol.  xv.,  1S45,  p.  140.  39  See  Poeppig,  '  Reise  in  Chile,'  b.  i. 

34  Azara,  '  Voyages  dans  l'Amer.  Me-  s.  290;  Mr.  (x.  Clarke,  as   above;   and 
rid.,'  torn.  i.  p.  3S1  ;  his  account  is  fully  Rengger,  s.  155. 

confirmed     by    Rengger.      Quatrefages  37  Dogs,   '  Nat.   Library,'   vol.   x.    p. 

gives  an  account  of   a  bitch   brought  121 :   an  endemic  South  American  dog 

from  Jerusalem  to   France  which  bur-  seems  also  to  have  become  feral  in  this 

rowed  a  hole  and  littered   in   it.     See  island.    See  Gosse's  '  Jamaica,'  p.  340. 


42  -  DOGS.  Chap.  L 

naturalised  in  Australia,  "  varies  considerably  in  colour," 
as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  P.  P.  King :  a  half-bred  Dingo 
reared  in  England 3e  showed  signs  of  wishing  to  bur- 
row. 

From  the  several  foregoing  facts  we  see  that  reversion  in  the  feral 
state  gives  no  indication  of  the  colour  or  size,  of  the  aboriginal 
parent-species.  One  fact,  however,  with  respect  to  the  colouring  of 
domestic  dogs,  I  at  one  time  hoped  might  have  thrown  some  light 
on  their  origin ;  and  it  is  worth  giving,  as  showing  how  colouring 
follows  laws,  even  in  so  anciently  and  thoroughly  domesticated  an 
animal  as  the  dog.  Black  dogs  with  tan-coloured  feet,  whatever 
breed  they  may  belong  to,  almost  invariably  have  a  tan  coloured 
spot  on  the  upper  and  inner  corners  of  each  eye,  and  their  lips  are 
generally  thus  coloured.  I  have  seen  only  two  exceptions  to  this 
rule,  namely,  in  a  spaniel  and  terrier.  Dogs  of  a  light-brown 
colour  often  have  a  lighter,  yellowish-brown  spot  over  the  eyes  ; 
sometimes  the  spot  is  white,  and  in  a  mongrel  terrier  the  spot  was 
black.  Mr.  Waring  kindly  examined  for  me  a  stud  of  fifteen  grey- 
hounds in  Suffolk  :  eleven  of  them  were  black,  or  black  and  white, 
or  brindled,  and  these  had  no  eye- spots  ;  but  three  were  red  and 
one  slaty-blue,  and  these  four  had  dark-coloured  spots  over  their 
eyes.  Although  the  spots  thus  sometimes  differ  in  colour,  they 
strongly  tend  to  be  tan-coloured  ;  this  is  proved  by  my  having  seen 
four  spaniels,  a  setter,  two  Yorkshire  shepherd  dogs,  a  large  mon- 
grel, and  some  fox-hounds,  coloured  black  and  white,  with  not  a 
trace  of  tan-colour,  excepting  the  spots  over  the  eyes,  and  some- 
times a  little  on  the  feet.  These  latter  cases,  and  many  others, 
show  plainly  that  the  colour  of  the  feet  and  the  eye-spots  are  in 
som'e  way  correlated.  I  have  noticed,  in  various  breeds,  every  gra- 
dation, from  the  whole  face  being  tan-coloured,  to  a  complete  ring 
round  the  eyes,  to  a  minute  spot  over  the  inner  and  upper  corners. 
The  spots  occur  in  various  sub-breeds  of  terriers  and  spaniels  ;  in 
setters;  in  hounds  of  various  kinds,  including  the  turnspit-like 
German  badger-hound  ;  in  shepherd  dogs  ;  in  a  mongrel,  of  which 
neither  parent  had  the  spots  ;  in  one  pure  bulldog,  though  the  spots 
were  in  this  case  almost  white  ;  and  in  greyhounds, — but  true  black- 
and-tan  greyhounds  are  excessively  rare ;  nevertheless  I  have  been 
assured  by  Mr.  Warwick,  that  one  ran  at  the  Caledonian  Champion 
meeting  of  April,  1860,  and  was  "marked  precisely  like  a  black- 
and-tan  terrier."     Mr.  Swinhoe  at  my  request  looked  at  the  dogs 


38  Low,  'Domesticated  Animals,'  p.  650. 


Cuap.  I.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  43 

in  China,  at  Amoy,  and  he  soon  noticed  a  brown  dog  with  yellow 
spots  over  the  eyes.  Colonel  H.  Smith 39  figures  the  magnificent 
black  mastiff  of  Thibet  with  a  tan-coloured  stripe  over  the  eyes, 
feet,  and  chaps;  and  what  is  more  singular,  he  figures  the  Alco,  or 
native  domestic  dog  of  Mexico,  as  black  and  white,  with  narrow 
tan-coloured  rings  round  the  eyes ;  at  the  Exhibition  of  dogs  in 
London,  May,  1863,  a  so-called  forest-dog  from  North-West  Mexico 
was  shown,  which  had  pale  tan-coloured  spots  over  the  eyes.  The 
occurrence  of  these  tan-coloured  spots  in  dogs  of  such  extremely 
different  breeds,  living  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  makes  the 
fact  highly  remarkable. 

We  shall  hereafter  see,  especially  in  the  chapter  on  Pigeons,  that 
coloured  marks  are  strongly  inherited,  and  that  they  often  aid  us  in 
discovering  the  primitive  forms  of  our  domestic  races.  Hence,  if 
any  wild  canine  species  had  distinctly  exhibited  the  tan-coloured 
spots  over  the  eyes,  it  might  have  been  argued  that  this  was  the  pa- 
rent-form of  nearly  all  our  domestic  races.  But  after  looking  at 
many  coloured  plates,  and  through  the  whole  collection  of  skins  in 
the  British  Museum,  I  can  find  no  species  thus  marked.  It  is  no 
doubt  possible  tha,t  some  extinct  species  was  thus  coloured.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  looking  at  the  various  species,  there  seems  to  be  a  tol- 
erably plain  correlation  between  tan-coloured  legs  and  face ;  and 
less  frequently  between  black  legs  and  a  black  face  ;  and  this  gene- 
ral rule  of  colouring  explains  to  a  certain  extent  the  above-given 
cases  of  correlation  between  the  eye-spots  and  the  colour  of  the  feet. 
Moreover,  some  jackals  and  foxes  have  a  trace  of  a  white  ring  round 
their  eyes,  as  in  C.  mesomelas,  C.  aureus,  and  (judging  from  Colonel 
Ham.  Smith's  drawing)  in  0.  alopex  and  C.  thaleb.  Other  species  have 
a  trace  of  a  black  line  over  the  corners  of  the  eyes,  as  in  C.  cariega- 
tu»,  cinereo-variegatus,  and  f  ulcus,  and  the  Avild  Dingo.  Hence  I 
am  inclined  to  conclude  that  a  tendency  for  tan-coloured  spots  to  ap- 
pear over  the  eyes  in  the  various  breeds  of  dogs,  is  analogous  to  the 
case  observed  by  Desmarest,  namely,  that  when  any  white  appears 
on  a  dog  the  tip  of  the  tail  is  always  white,  "  de  maniere  a  rappeler 
la  tache  terminate  de  meme  couleur,  qui  caracterise  la  plupart  des 
Canides  sauvages." 40 

It  has  been  objected  that  our  domestic  dogs  cannot  be 
descended  from  wolves  or  jackals,  because  their  periods 
of  gestation  are  different.     The  supposed  difference  rests 


*•  '  The  Naturalist  Library,'  Dogs,  vol.  *°  Quoted  by  Prof.  Oervais  'Hist.  Nat. 

x.  pp.  4,  19.  Mamm.,'  torn.  ji.  p.  66. 


44  DOGS.  Chap.  L 

on  statements  made  by  Buffon,  Gilibert,  Bechstein,  and 
others  ;  but  these  are  now  known  to  be  erroneous  ;  and 
the  period  is  found  to  agree  in  the  wolf,  jackal,  and  dog, 
as  closely  as  could  be  expected,  for  it  is  often  in  some  de- 
gree variable.41  Tessier,  who  has  closely  attended  to  this 
subject,  allows  a  difference  of  four  days  in  the  gestation 
of  the  dog.  The  Rev.  W.  D.  Fox  has  given  me  three 
carefully  recorded  cases  of  retrievers,  in  which  the  bitch 
was  put  only  once  to  the  dog ;  and  not  counting  this  day, 
but  counting  that  of  parturition,  the  periods  were  fifty- 
nine,  sixty-two,  and  sixty-seven  days.  The  average  pe- 
riod is  sixty-three  days  ;  but  Bellingeri  states  that  this 
holds  good  only  with  large  dogs  ;  and  that  for  small  races 
it  is  from  sixty  to  sixty- three  days;  Mr.  Eyton  of  Eyton, 
who  has  had.  much  experience  with  dogs,  also  informs  me 
that  the  time  is  apt  to  be  longer  with  large  than  with 
small  dosjs. 

F.  Cuvier  has  objected  that  the  jackal  would  nothave 
been  domesticated  on  account  of  its  offensive  smell ;  but 
savages  are  not  sensitive  in  this  respect.  The  degree  of 
odour,  also,  differs  in  the  different  kinds  of  jackal; 42  and 
Colonel  H.  Smith  makes  a  sectional  division  of  the  group 
with  one  character  dependent  on  not  being  offensive.  On 
the  other  hand,  dogs — for  instance,  rough  and  smooth  ter- 
riers— differ  much  in  this  respect ;  and  M.  Godron  states 
that  the  hairless  so-called  Turkish  dog  is  more  odoriferous 


41  J.  Hunter  shows  that  the  long  pe-  two  months  and  a  few  days,  which  agrees 

riod  of  seventy-three  days  given  by  Buf-  with  the  dog.     Isid.  G.  St.  Hilaire,  who 

fon  is  easily  explained  by  the  bitch  liav-  has  discussed  the  whole  subject,  and  from 

ing  received  the  dog  many  times  during  whom  I  quote  Bellingeri,  states  ('  Hist. 

a  period  of  sixteen  days  ('  Phil.  Trans-  Nat.  Gen.,1  torn.  iii.  p.  112)  that  in  the 

act.,'  178T,  p.  253).     Hunter  found  that  Jardin   des   Plantes   the  period  of  the 

the  gestation  of  a  mongrel  from  wolf  and  jackal  has  been  found  to  be  from  sixty 

dog  ('  Phil.  Transact.,'  1789,  p.  1G0)  ap-  to  sixty-three  days,  exactly  as  with  the 

parently  was  sixty-three  days,  for  she  dog. 

received  the  dog  more  than  once.     The  42  See  Isid.  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire,  'Hist, 

period  of  a  mongrel  dog  and  jackal  was  Nat.  Gen.,'  torn.  iii.  p.  112,  on  the  odour 

fifty-nine  days.    Fred.  Cuvier  found  the  of  jackals.      Col.  Ham.  Smith,  in  '  Nat. 

period  of  gestation   of  the  wolf  to   be  Hist.  Lib.,'  vol.  x.  p.  289. 
('  Diet.  Class  d'Hist.  Nat.,',  torn.  iv.  p.  S) 


Chap.  I.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  45 

than  other  dogs.  Isidore  Geoffroy"  gave  to  a  dog  the 
same  odour  as  that  from  a  jackal  by  feeding  it  on  raw 
flesh. 

The  belief  that  our  dogs  are  descended  from  avoIvcs, 
jackals,  South  American  Canidoe,  and  other  species  sug- 
gests a  far  more  important  difficulty.  These  animals  in 
their  undomesticated  state,  judging  from  a  -widely-spread 
analogy,  would  have  been  in  some  degree  sterile  if  inter- 
crossed ;  and  such  sterility  will  be  admitted  as  almost  cer- 
tain by  all  those  who  believe  that  the  lessened  fertility  of 
crossed  forms  is  an  infallible  criterion  of  specific  distinct- 
ness. Anyhow  these  animals  keep  distinct  in  the  countries 
which  they  inhabit  in  common.  On  the  other  hand,  all 
domestic  dogs,  which  are  here  supposed  to  be  descended  ' 
from  several  distinct  species,  are,  as  far  as  is  known,  mu- 
tually fertile  together.  But,  as  Broea  has  well  remarked,44 
the  fertility  of  successive  generations  of  mongrel  dogs  has 
never  been  scrutinised  with  that  care  which  is  thought 
indispensable  when  species  are  crossed.  The  few  facts 
leading  to  the  conclusion  that  the  sexual  feelings  and  re- 
productive powers  diifer  in  the  several  races  of  the  dog 
when  crossed  are  (passing  over  mere  size  as  rendering  pro- 
pagation difficult)  as  follows  :  the  Mexican  Alco  4S  appa- 
rently dislikes  dogs  of  other  kinds,  but  this  perhaps  is  not 
strictly  a  sexual  feeling  ;  the  hairless  endemic  dog  of  Par- 
aguay, according  to  Rengger,  mixes  less  with  the  Euro- 
pean races  than  these  do  with  each  other;  the  Spitz-dog 
in  Germany  is  said  to  receive  the  fox  more  readily  than 
do  other  breeds  ;  and  Dr.  Hodgkin  states  that  a  female 
Dingo  in  England  attracted  the  male  wild  foxes.  If  these 
'latter  statements  can  be  trusted,  they  prove  some  degree 


43  Quoted  by  Quatrefages  in  '  Bull.  Soc.  guay,'  s.   153.      With  respect   to  Spitz 
d'Acclimat.,' May  11th,  1S63.  dogs,     see      Bechstein's      '  Naturgeseh. 

44  '  Journal  de  la  Physiologie,'  torn.  ii.  Deutschlands,'  1801,  b.  i.  s.  638.     With 
p.  3S5.  respect  to  Dr.  Hodgkin's  statement  made 

45  See  Mr.  R.  Hill's  excellent  account  before  Brit.  Assoc,  see  '  The  Zoologist, 
of  this  breed  in   Gosse's  'Jamaica,'   p.  vol.  iv.,  for  1845-46,  p.  1097. 

U88 ;   Rengger's  '  Saeugethiere  von  Para- 


46  DOGS.  Chap.  L 

of  sexual  difference  in  the  breeds  of  the  dog.  But  the 
fact  remains  that  our  domestic  dogs,  differing  so  widely  as 
they  do  in  external  structure,  are  far  more  fertile  together 
than  we  have  reason  to  believe  their  supposed  wild  parents 
would  have  been.  Pallas  assumes46  that  a  long  course  of 
domestication  eliminates  that  sterility  which  the  parent- 
species  would  have  exhibited  if  only  lately  captured ;  no 
distinct  facts  are  recorded  in  support  of  this  hypothesis ; 
but  the  evidence  seems  to  me  so  strong  (independently  of 
the  evidence  derived  from  other  domesticated  animals)  in 
favour  of  our  domestic  dogs  having  descended  from  seve- 
ral wild  stocks,  that  I  am  led  to  admit  the  truth  of  this 
hypothesis. 

There  is  another  and  closely  allied  difficulty  consequent 
on  the  doctrine  of  the  descent  of  our  domestic  dogs  from 
several  wild  species,  namely,  that  they  do  not  seem  to  be 
perfectly  fertile  with  their  supposed  parents.  But  the 
experiment  has  not  been  quite  fairly  tried ;  the  Hungarian 
dog,  for  instance,  which  in  external  appearance  so  closely 
resembles  the  European  wolf,  ought  to  be  crossed  with 
this  wolf;  and  the  pariah-dogs  of  India  with  Indian 
wolves  and  jackals ;  and  so  in  other  cases.  That  the 
sterility  is  very  slight  between  certain  dogs  and  wolves 
and  other  Canida3  is  shown  by  savages  taking  the  trouble 
to  cross  them.  Buffon  got  four  successive  generations 
from  the  wolf  and  dog,  and  the  mongrels  were  perfectly 
fertile  together.47  But  more  lately  M.  Flourens  states 
positively  as  the  result  of  his  numerous  experiments  that 
hybrids  from  the  wolf  and  dog,  crossed  inter  se,  become 
sterile  at  the  thii'd  generation,  and  those  from  the  jackal 
and  dog  at  the  fourth  generation.48  But  these  animals 
were  closely  confined ;    and  many  wild  animals,  as  we 


41 '  Acta  Acad.   St.  Petersburgh,'  17S0,  many  facts  on  the  fertility  of  crossed 

part  ii.  pp.  84, 100.  dogs,  wolves,  and  jackals. 

47  M.  Broca  has  shown  ('  Journal  de  ia  '  De  la  Longevite  Humaine,'  par  M. 

Physiologie,' torn.  ii.  p.  353)  thatBuffon's  .   Flourens,  1855,  p.  143.    Mr.  Blyth  says 

experiments  have  been  often  misrepre-  ('  Indian  Sporting  Review,'  vol.  ii.  p.  137) 

sented.   Broca  has  collected  (pp.  390-395)  that  he  has  seen  in  India  several  hybrids 


Chap.  I.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  47 

shall  see  in  a  future  chapter,  are  rendered  by  confinement 
in  some  degree  or' even  utterly  sterile.  The  Dingo,  which 
breeds  freely  in  Australia  with  our  imported  dogs,  would 
not  breed  though  repeatedly  crossed  in  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes.49  Some  hounds  from  Central  Africa,  brought 
home  by  Major  Denham,  never  bred  in  the  Tower  of  Lon- 
don ;  M  and  a  similar  tendency  to  sterility  might  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  hybrid  offspring  of  a  wild  animal.  Moreover, 
it  appears  that  in  M.  Flourens'  experiments  tbe  hybrids 
were  closely  bred  in  and  in  for  three  or  four  generations ; 
but  this  circumstance,  although  it  would  almost  certainly 
increase  the  tendency  to  sterility,  would  hardly  account 
for  the  final  result,  even  though  aided  by  close  confine- 
ment, unless  there  had  been  some  original  tendency  to 
lessened  fertility.  Several  years  ago  I  saw  confined  in  the 
Zoological  Gardens  of  London  a  female  hybrid  from  an 
English  dog  and  jackal,  which  even  in  this  the  first  gene- 
ration was  so  sterile  that,  as  I  was  assured  by  her  keeper, 
she  did  not  fully  exhibit  her  proper  periods  ;  but  this  case, 
from  the  numerous  instances  of  fertile  hybrids  from  these 
two  animals,  was  certainly  exceptional.  In  almost  all  ex- 
periments on  the  crossing  of  animals  there  are  so  many 
causes  of  doubt,  that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  come  to 
any  positive  conclusion.  It  would,  however,  appear,  that 
those  who  believe  that  our  dogs  are  descended  from 
several  species  will  have  not  only  to  admit  that  their 
offspring  after  a  long  course  of  domestication  generally 
lose  all  tendency  to  sterility  Avhen  crossed  together;  but 
that  between  certain  breeds  of  dogs  and  some  of  their 
Supposed  aboriginal  parents  a  certain  degree  of  sterility 
has  been  retained  or  possibly  even  acquired. 

from  the  pariah-dog  and  jackal ;  and  be-  49  On  authority  of  F.  Cuvier,  quoted 

tween  one  of  these  hybrids  and  a  terrier.  In  Bronn's  'Geschichte  der  Natur,'  B.  ii. 

The  experiments  of  Hunter  on  the  Jackal  s.  164. 

are  well  known.    See  also  Isid.  GeofTroy  60  W.  C.  L.  Martin,  '  History  of  the 

St.  Hilaire,  'Hist.  Nat.  Gen.,'  torn.  iii.  p.  Dog,'  1S45,  p.  203.      Mr.  Philip  P.  Kin?, 

217,  who  speaks  of  the  hybrid  offspring  after  ample  opportunities  of  observation, 

of  the  jackal  as  perfectly  fertile  for  three  informs  me  that  the  Dingo  and  European 

generations.  dogs  often  cross  in  Australia. 


48  DOGS.  Chap.  I. 

Notwithstanding  the  difficulties  in  regard  to  fertility- 
given  in  the  last  two  paragraphs,  when  we  reflect  on 
the  inherent  improbability  of  man  having  domesticated 
throughout  the  world  one  single  species  alone  of  so 
widely  distributed,  so  easily  tamed,  and  so  useful  a 
group  as  the  Canidae ;  when  we  reflect  on  the  extreme 
antiquity  of  the  different  breeds ;  and  especially  when 
we  reflect  on  the  close  similarity,  both  in  external  struc- 
ture and  habits,  between  the  domestic  dogs  of  various 
countries  and  the  wild  species  still  inhabiting  these  same 
countries,  the  balance  of  evidence  is  strongly  in  favour 
of  the  multiple  origin  of  our  dogs. 

Differences  beticeen  the  several  Breeds  of  the  Dog. — If 
the  several  breeds  have  descended  from  several  wild 
stocks,  their  difference  can  obviously  in  part  be  explained 
by  that  of  their  parent-species.  For  instance,  the  form 
of  the  greyhound  may  be  partly  accounted  for  by  descent 
from  some  such  animal  as  the  slim  Abyssinian  Canis  si- 
mensis,™  with  its  elongated  muzzle ;  that  of  the  larger 
dogs  from  the  larger  wolves,  and  the  smaller  and  slighter 
dogs  from  jackals :  and  thus  perhaps  we  may  account 
for  certain  constitutional  and  climatal  differences.  But  it 
would  be  a  great  error  to  suppose  that  there  has  not  been 
in  addition63  a  large  amount  of  variation.  The  inter- 
crossing of  the  several  aboriginal  wild  stocks,  and  of  the 
subsequently  formed  races,  has  probably  increased  the 
total  number  of  breeds,  and,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
has  greatly  modified  some  of  them.  But  we  cannot  ex- 
plain by  crossing  the  origin  of  such  extreme  forms  as 
thoroughbred  greyhounds,  bloodhounds,  bulldogs,  Blen- 
heim spaniels,  terriers,  pugs,  &c,  unless  we  believe  that 
forms  equally  or  more  strongly  characterised  in  these 
different  respects  once  existed  in  nature.     But  hardly  any 


61    Ruppel,  '  Neue  Wirbelthiere    von        fine  animal  in  the  British  Museum 
Abyssinien,' 1835-40  ;   'Mammif.'s.   39.  "  Even  Pallas  admits  this  :  see  'Act 

pi.  xiv.    There  is   a  specimen  of  this        Acad.  St.  Petersburg!!,'  1730,  p.  93. 


Chab.  i.  DIFFERENCES    OF    BREEDS.  40 

one  has  been  bold  enough  to  sujipose  that  such  unnatural 
forms  ever  did  or  could  exist  in  a  wild  state.  When 
compared. with  all  known  members  of  the  family  of  Ca- 
nidse  they  betray  a  distinct  and  abnormal  origin.  No 
instance  is  on  record  of  such  dogs  as  bloodhounds, 
spaniels,  true  greyhounds  having  been  kept  by  savages: 
they  are  the  product  of  long-continued  civilization. 

The  number  of  breeds  and  sub-breeds  of  the  dog  is  great :  Youatt , 
for  instance,  describes  twelve  kinds  of  greyhounds.  I  will  not  at- 
tempt to  enumerate  or  describe  the  varieties,  for  we  cannot  discri- 
minate how  much  of  their  difference  is  due  to  variation,  aad  how 
much  to  descent  from  different  aboriginal  stocks.  But  it  may  be 
worth  while  briefly  to  mention  some  points.  Commencing  with  the 
skull,  Cuvier  has  admitted63  that  in  form  the  differences  are  "  plus 
fortes  que  celles  d'aucunes  especes  sauvages  d'un  mime  genre  na- 
turel."  The  proportions  of  the  different  bones  ;  the  curvature  of  the 
lower  jaw,  the  position  of  the  condyles  with  respect  to  the  plane  of 
the  teeth  (on  which  F.  Cuvier  founded  his  classification),  and  in 
mastiffs  the  shape  of  its  posterior  branch  ;  the  shape  of  the  zygoma- 
tic arch,  and  of  the  temporal  fossae  ;  the  position  of  the  occiput — all 
vary  considerably.54  The  dog  has  properly  six  pairs  of  molar  teeth 
in  the  upper  jaw,  and  seven  in  the  lower ;  but  several  naturalists 
have  seen  not  rarely  an  additional  pair  in  the  upper  jaw  ; 65  and  Pro- 
fessor Gervais  gaya  that  there  are  dogs  "  qui  out  sept  paires  de  dents 
superieures  et  huit  inferieures."  De  Blainville 66  has  given  full  par- 
ticulars on  the  frequency  of  these  deviations  in  the  number  of  the 
teeth,  and  has  shown  that  it  is  not  always  the  same  tooth  which  is 
supernumerary.  In  short-muzzled  races,  according  to  H.  Midler,67 
the  molar  teeth  stand  obliquely,  whilst  in  long-muzzled  races  they 
are  placed  longitudinally,  with  open  spaces  between  them.  The 
naked,  so-called  Egyptian  or  Turkish  dog  is  extremely  deficient  in 
its  teeth,08 — sometimes  having  none  except  one  molar  on  each  side ; 


63  Quoted  by  I.  Geoffroy,   '  Hist.  Nat.  teographie,  Canidae,'  p.137)  has  also  seen 

Gen.,'  torn.  iii.  p.  453.  an  extra  molar  on  both  sides. 

51  F.  Cuvier,  in  'Annales  du  Museum,'  5S  Osteographie,  Canidaj,'  p.  137. 

torn,  xviii.  p.  337  ;  Godron,  'De  l'Espece,'  »'  Wurzburger, '  Medecin.  Zeitschrift,' 

torn.  i.  p.  342  ;  and  Col.  Ham.  Smith,  in  1S60,  B.  i.  s.  265. 

'  Naturalist's  Library,'  vol.  ix.  p.  101.  6B  Mr.  Yarrell,  in  '  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,' 

66  Isid.  Geoffroy  Saint  Hilaire,  'Hist.  Oct.  8th,  1S33.     Mr.  Waterhouse  showed 

des   Anomalies,'  1S32,    torn.    i.   p.     C60.  me  a  skull  of  one  of  these  dogs,  which 

Gervais,  '  Hist.  Nat.  des    Mammiferes,'  had  only  a  single  molar  on  each  side  and 

torn.  1L,  1855,  p.  66.    De  Blainville,  ('Os-  some  imperfect  incisors. 
3 


50  DOGS.  Chap.  I. 

but  this,  though  characteristic  of  the  breed,  must  be  considered  as  a 
monstrosity.  M.  Girard,69  who  seems  to  have  attended  closely  to  the 
subject,  says  that  the  period  of  the  appearance  of  the  permanent 
teeth  differs  in  different  dogs,  being  earlier  in  large  dogs  ;  thus  the 
mastiff  assumes  its  adult  teeth  in  four  or  five  months,  whilst  in  the 
spaniel  the  period  is  sometimes  more  than  seven  or  eight  months. 

With  respect  to  minor  differences  little  need  be  said.  Isidore 
Geoffroy  has  shown m  that  in  size  some  dogs  are  six  times  as  long 
(the  tail  being  excluded)  as  others  ;  and  that  the  height  relatively 
to  the  length  of  the  body  varies  from  between  one  to  two,  and  one 
to  nearly  four.  In  the  Scotch  deer-hound  there  is  a  striking  and 
remarkable  difference  in  the  size  of  the  male  and  female.61  Every 
one  knows  how  the  ears  vary  in  size  in  different  breeds,  and  with 
their  great  development  their  muscles  become  atrophied.  Certain 
breeds  of  dogs  are  described  as  having  a  deep  furrow  between  the 
nostrils  and  lips.  The  caudal  vertebrae,  according  to  F.  Cuvier,  on 
whose  authority  the  two  last  statements  rest,  vary  in  number  ;  and 
the  tail  in  shepherd  dogs  is  almost  absent.  The  mammae  vary  from 
seven  to  ten  in  number ;  Daubenton,  having  examined  twenty-one 
dogs,  found  eight  with  five  mamma?  on  each  side ;  eight  with  four 
on  each  side  ;  and  the  others  with,  an  unequal  number  on  the  two 
sides.62  Dogs  have  properly  five  toes  in  front  and  four  behind,  but 
a  fifth  toe  is  often  added ;  and  F.  Cuvier  states  that,  when  a  fifth 
toe  is  present,  a  fourth  cuneiform  bone  is  developed ;  and,  in  this 
case,  sometimes  the  great  cuneiform  bone  is  raised,  and  gives  on  its 
inner  side  a  large  articular  surface  to  the  astragalus  ;  so  that  even 
the  relative  connection  of  the  bones,  the  most  constant  of  all  cha- 
racters, varies.  These  modifications,  however,  in  the  feet  of  dogs 
are  not  important,  because  they  ought  to  be  ranked,  as  De  Blain- 
ville  has  shown,63  as  monstrosities.  Nevertheless  they  are  interest- 
ing from  being  correlated  with  the  size  of  the  body,  for  they  occur 
much  more  frequently  with  mastiffs  and  other  large  breeds  than 
with  small  dogs.  Closely  allied  varieties,  however,  sometimes  differ 
in  this  respect ;  thus  Mr.  Hodgson  states  that  the  black-and-tan 
Lassa  variety  of  the  Thibet  mastiff  has  the  fifth  digit,  whilst  the 
Mustang  sub-variety  is  not  thus  characterised.      The  extent  to 


69  Quoted  in  '  The  Veterinary,'  Lon-  63  De  Blainville,  '  Osteographie  Cani- 

don,  vol.  viii.  p.  415.  dse,'   p.   134.     F.   Cuvier,   'Annales   du 

60  '  Hist.   Nat.  'General,'   torn.  iii.  p.  Museum,'  torn,  xviii.  p.  842.     In  regard 
44S.  to  mastiffs,  see  Col.  Ham.  Smith,  '  Nat. 

61  W.  Scrope,   'Art  of  Deer-Stalking,'  Lib.,' vol.  x.  p.  218.    For  the  Thibet  mas- 
p.  854.  tiff,  see  Mr.  Hodgson  in  '  Journal  of  As. 

62  Quoted  by  Col.  Ham.  Smith  in  'Na-  Soc.  of  Bengal,'  vol.  i.,  1832,  p.  842. 
.uralist's  Library,'  vol.  x.  p.  79. 


Chap.  I.  DIFFERENCES    OF    BREEDS.  51 

which  the  skin  is  developed  between  the  toes  varies  much  ;  but  we 
shall  return  to  this  point.  The  degree  to  which  the  various  breeds 
differ  in  the  perfection  of  their  senses,  dispositions,  and  inherited 
habits  is  notorious  to  every  one.  The  breeds  present  some  consti- 
tutional differences :  the  pulse,  says  Youatt,64  "  varies  materially 
according  to  the  breed,  as  well  as  to  the  size  of  the  animal."  Dif- 
ferent breeds  of  dogs  are  subject  in  different  degrees  to  various  dis- 
eases. They  certainly  become  adapted  to  different  climates  under 
which  they  have  long  existed.  It  is  notorious  that  most  of  our  best 
European  breeds  deteriorate  in  India.65  The  Rev.  R  Everest 66  be- 
lieves that  no  one  has  succeeded  in  keeping  the  Newfoundland  dog 
long  alive  in  India ;  so  it  is,  according  to  Lichtenstein,67  even  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  Thibet  mastiff  degenerates  on  the  plains 
of  India,  and  can  live  only  on  the  mountains.66  Lloyd  °9  asserts 
that  our  bloodhounds  and  bulldogs  have  been  tried,  and  cannot 
withstand  the  cold  of  the  northern  European  forests. 

Seeing  in  how  many  characters  the  races  of  the  dog 
differ  from  each  other,  and  remembering  Cuvier's  admis- 
sion that  their  skulls  differ  more  than  do  those  of  the 
species  of  any  natural  genus,  and  bearing  in  mind  how 
closely  the  bones  of  wolves,  jackals,  foxes,  and  other 
Canidse  agree,  it  is  remarkable  that  we  meet  with  the 
statement,  repeated  over  and  over  again,  that  the  races 
of  the  dog  differ  in  no  important  characters.  A  highly 
competent  judge,  Prof.  Gervais,70  admits,  "  si  l'on  prenait 
sans  controle  les  alterations  dont  chacun  de  ces  organes 
est  susceptible,  on  pourrait  croire  qu'il  y  a  entre  les 
chiens  domestiques  des  differences  plus  grandes  que 
celles  qui  separent  ailleurs  les  especes,  quelquefois  meme 
les  genres."     Some  of  the  differences  above  enumerated 


64  'The  Dog,'  1845,  p.  1S6.    With  re-  Veterinary,'  London,  vol.  xi.  p.  235. 

spect  to  diseases,  Youatt  asserts  (p.  167)  **  'Journal  of  As.  Soc.  of  Bengal,'  vol. 

that  the  Italian  greyhound  is  "  strongly  Hi.  p.  19. 

subject"  to  polypi  in  the  matrix  or  vagi-  "  '  Travels,'  vol.  ii.  p.  15. 

na.    The  spaniel  and  pug  (p.  182)  are  68  Hodgson,  in  '  Journal  of  As.  Soc.  of 

most  liable  to  bronchocele.    The  liability  Bengal,'  vol.  i.  p.  342. 

to  distemper  (p.  232)  is  extremely  differ-  e9  '  Field  Sports  of  the  North  of  Eu- 

ent  in  different  breeds     On  the  distem-  rope,'  vol.  ii.  p.  165. 

per,  see  also  Col.  Hutchinson  on  'Dog  70  '  Hist.  Nat.  des  Mammif.,'  1855,  torn: 

Breaking,'  1S50,  p.  279.  it.  pp.  66,  67. 

••  See  Youatt  on  the  Dog,  p.  15 ;  '  The 


52  DOGS.  Chap.  I. 

are  in  one  respect  of  comparatively  little  value,  for  they 
are  not  characteristic  of  distinct  breeds :  no  one  pretends 
that  such  is  the  case  with  the  additional  molar  teeth  or  with 
the  number  of  mammae  ;  the  additional  digit  is  generally 
present  with  mastiffs,  and  some  of  the  more  important  dif- 
ferences in  the  skull  and  lower  jaw  are  more  or  less  cha- 
racteristic of  various  bi'eeds.  But  we  must  not  forget  that 
the  predominant  power  of  selection  has  not  been  applied 
in  any  of  these  cases ;  we  have  variability  in  important 
parts,  but  the  differences  have  not  been  fixed  by  selection. 
Man  cares  for  the  form  and  fleetness  of  his  greyhounds, 
for  the  size  of  his  mastiffs,  for  the  strength  of  the  jaw  in 
his  bulldogs,  &c. ;  but  he  cares  nothing  about  the  num- 
ber of  their  molar  teeth  or  mammae  or  digits  ;  nor  do  we 
know  that  differences  in  these  organs  are  correlated  with, 
or  owe  their  development  to,  differences  in  other  parts  of 
the  body  about  which  man  does  care.  Those  who  have 
attended  to  the  subject  of  selection  will  admit  that,  na- 
ture having  given  variability,  man,  if  he  so  chose,  could 
fix  five  toes  to  the  hinder  feet  of  certain  breeds  of  dogs, 
as  certainly  as  to  the  feet  of  his  Dorking-fowls  :  he  could 
probably  fix,  but  with  much  more  difficulty,  an  addition- 
al pair  of  molar  teeth  in  either  jaw,  in  the  same  way  as 
he  has  given  additional  horns  to  certain  breeds  of  sheep<; 
if  he  wished  to  produce  a  toothless  breed  of  dogs,  having 
the  so-called  Turkish  dog  with  its  imperfect  teeth  to  work 
on,  he  could  probably  do  so,  for  he  has  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing hornless  breeds  of  cattle  and  sheep. 

With  respect  to  the  precise  causes  and  steps  by  which 
the  several  races  of  dogs  have  come  to  differ  so  greatly 
from  each  other,  Ave  are,  as  in  most  other  cases,  profound- 
ly ignorant.  We  may  attribute  part  of  the  difference  in 
external  form  and  constitution  to  inheritance  from  dis- 
tinct wild  stocks,  that  is  to  changes  effected  under  nature 
before  domestication.  We  must  attribute  something  to 
the  crossing  of  the  several  domestic  and  natural  races.  I 
shall,  however,  soon  recur  to  the  crossing  of  races.     We 


Chap.  L  MEANS    OF    MODIFICATION.  53 

have  already  seen  how  often  savages  cross  their  dogs 
with  wild  native  species  ;  and  Pennant  gives  a  curious 
account71  of  themauner  in  which  Fochabers,  in  Scotland, 
was  stocked  "  with  a  multitude  of  curs  of  a  most  wolf- 
ish aspect"  from  a  single  hybrid-wolf  brought  into  that 
district. 

It  would  appear  that  climate  to  a  certain  extent  di- 
rectly modifies  the  forms  of  dogs.  We  have  lately  seen 
that  several  of  our  English  breeds  cannot  live  in  India, 
and  it  is  positively  asserted  that  when  bred  there  for  a 
few  generations  they  degenerate  not  only  in  their  men- 
tal faculties,  but  in  form.  Captain  Williamson,"  who 
carefully  attended  to  this  subject,  states  that  "hounds 
are  the  most  rapid  in  their  decline  ;"  "  greyhounds  and 
pointers,  also,  rapidly  decline."  But  spaniels,  after  eight 
or  nine  generations,  and  without  a  cross  from  Europe, 
are  as  good  as  their  ancestors.  Dr.  Falconer  informs  me 
that  bulldogs,  which  have  been  known,  when  first  brought 
into  the  country,  to  pin  down  even  an  elephant  by  its 
trunk,  not  only  fall  off  after  two  or  three  generations  in 
pluck  and  ferocity,  but  lose  the  under-hung  character  of 
their  lower  jaws  ;  their  muzzles  become  finer  and  their 
bodies  lighter.  English  dogs  imported  into  India  are  so 
valuable  that  probably  due  care  has  been  taken  to-pre- 
vent  their  crossing  with  native  dogs  ;  so  that  the  de- 
terioration cannot  be  thus  accounted  for.  The  Rev.  R. 
Everest  informs  me  that  he  obtained  a  pair  of  setters, 
born  in  India,  which  perfectly  resembled  their  Scotch 
parents :  he  raised  several  litters  from  them  in  Delhi, 
taking  the  most  stringent  precautions  to  prevent  a  cross, 
but  he  never  succeeded,  though  this  was  only  the  second 
generation  in  India,  in  obtaining  a  single  young  dog  like 
its  parents  in  size  or  make  ;  their  nostrils  were  more  con- 
tracted, their  noses  more  pointed,  their  size  inferior,  and 


.   71  '  History  of  Quadrupeds,'  1793,  vol.  T2  'Oriental  Field  Sports,'  quoted  by 

1.  p.  23S.  Youatt,  '  The  Dog,'  p.  15. 


54  DOGS.  Chap.  I. 

their  limbs  more  slender.  This  remarkable  tendency  to 
rapid  deterioration  in  European  dogs  subjected  to  the 
climate  of  India,  may  perhaps  partly  be  accounted  for  by 
the  tendency  to  reversion  to  a  primordial  condition  which 
many  animals  exhibit,  as  we  shall  see  in'a  future  chapter, 
when  exposed  to  new  conditions  of  life. 

Some  of  the  peculiarities  characteristic  of  the  several 
breeds  ot  the  dog  have  probably  arisen  suddenly,  and, 
though  strictly  inherited,  may  be  called  monstrosities ; 
for  instance,  the  shape  of  the  legs  and  body  in  the  turn- 
spit of  Europe  and  India  ;  the  shape  of  the  head  and  the 
under-hanging  jaw  in  the  bull  and  pug-dog,  so  alike  in 
this  one  respect  and  so  unlike  in  all  others.  A  peculiarity 
suddenly  arising,  and  therefore  in  one  sense  deserving  to 
be  called  a  monstrosity,  may,  however,  be  increased  and 
fixed  by  man's  selection.  We  can  hardly  doubt  that 
long-continued  training,  as  with  the  greyhound  in  cours- 
ing hares,  as  with  water-dogs  in  swimming — and  the 
want  of  exercise,  in  the  case  of  lap-dogs — must  have  pro- 
duced some  direct  effect  on  their  structure  and  instincts. 
But  we  shall  immediately  see  that  the  most  potent  cause 
of  change  has  probably  been  the  selection,  both  methodi- 
cal and  unconscious,  of  slight  individual  differences, — the 
latter  kind  of  selection  resulting  from  the  occasional  pre- 
servation, during  hundreds  of  generations,  of  those  indi- 
vidual dogs  which  were  the  most  useful  to  man  for  cer- 
tain purposes  and  under  certain  conditions  of  life.  In  a 
future  chapter  on  Selection  I  shall  show  that  even  bar- 
barians attend  closely  to  the  qualities  of  their  dogs.  This 
unconscious  selection  by  man  would  be  aided  by  a  kind 
of  natural  selection  ;  for  the  dogs  of  savages  have  partly 
to  gain  their  own  subsistence ;  for  instance,  in  Australia, 
as  we  hear  from  Mr.  Nind,73  the  dogs  are  sometimes  com- 
pelled by  want  to  leave  their  masters  and  provide  for 
themselves;  but  in  a  few  days  they  generally  return. 


73  Quoted  by  Mr.  Galton,  '  Domestication  of  Animals,'  p.  13. 


Chap.  I.  MEANS    OF    MODIFICATION.  00 

i  • 

And  we  may  infer  that  dogs  of  different  shapes,  sizes, 
and  habits,  would  have  the  best  chance  of  surviving  un- 
der different  circumstances, — on  open,  sterile  plains,  where 
they  have  to  run  down  their  own  prey, — on  rocky  coasts, 
where  they  have  to  feed  on  crabs  and  fish  left  in  the  tidal 
pools,  as  in  the  case  of  New  Guinea  and  Tierra  del  Fuego. 
In  this  latter  country,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Bridges, 
the  Catechist  to  the  Mission,  the  dogs  turnover  the  stones 
on  the  shore  to  catch  the  wustaceans  which  lie  beneath, 
and  they  "  are  clever  enough  to  knock  off  the  shell-fish  at 
a  first  blow ;"  for  if  this  be  not  done,  shell-fish  are  well 
known  to  have  an  almost  invincible  power  of  adhesion. 

It  has  already  been  remarked  that  dogs  differ  in  the 
degree  to  which  their  feet  are  webbed.  In  dogs  of  the 
Newfoundland  breed,  which  are  eminently  aquatic  in 
their  habits,  the  skin,  according  to  Isidore  Geoffroy, 7i 
extends  to  the  third  phalanges,  whilst  in  ordinary  dogs 
it  extends  only  to  the  second.  In  two  Newfoundland 
dogs'  which  I  examined,  when  the  toes  were  stretched 
apart  and  viewed  on  the  under  side,  the  skin  extended  in 
a  nearly  straight  line  between  the  outer  margins  of  the 
balls  of  the  toes  ;  whereas,  in  two  terriers  of  distinct 
sub-breeds,  the  skin  viewed  in  the  same  manner  was 
deeply  scooped  out.  In  Canada  there  is  a  dog  which  is 
peculiar  to  the  country  and  common  there,  and  this  has 
"half-webbed  feet  and  is  fond  of  the  water."  76  English 
otter-hounds  are  said  to  have  webbed  feet ;  a  friend  ex- 
amined for  me  the  feet  of  two,  in  comparison  with  the 
feet  of  some  harriers  and  bloodhounds  ;  he  found  the 
skin  variable  in  extent  in  all,  but  more  developed  in  the 
otter  than  in  the  other  hounds.76  As  aquatic  animals 
which  belong  to  quite  different  orders  have  webbed  feet, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  structure  would  be  ser- 


'*  '  Hist.  Nat.  Gen.,'  torn.  Hi.  p.  450.  re  See  Mr.  C  0.  Groom-Napier  on  the 

'6  Mr.   Greenhow    on    the   Canadian  webbing  of  the  hind  feet  of  Otter-hounds 

Dog,  in  Loudon's  'Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,'  in  '  Land  and  Water,'  Oct.  13th,  1866,  p. 

vol  vl.  1S33,  p.  511.  270. 


56  DOGS.  Chap.  I. 

viceable  to  dogs  that  frequent  the  water.  We  may  confi- 
dently infer  that  no  man  ever  selected  his  water-dogs  by 
the  exteut  to  which  the  skin  was  developed  between 
their  toes ;  but  what  he  does,  is  to  preserve  and  breed 
from  those  individuals  which  hunt  best  in  the  water,  or 
best  retrieve  wounded  game,  and  thus  he  unconsciously 
selects  dogs  with  feet  slightly  better  webbed.  Man 
thus  closely  imitates  Natural  Selection.  "We  have  an 
excellent  illustration  of  this  same  process  in  North 
America,  where,  according  to  Sir  J.  Richardson,77  all  the 
Avolves,  foxes,  and  aboriginal  domestic  dogs  have  their 
feet  broader  than  in  the  corresponding  species  of  the  Old 
World,  and  "  well  calculated  for  running  on  the  snow." 
Now,  in  these  Arctic  regions,  the  life  or  death  of  every 
animal  will  often  depend  on  its  success  in  hunting  over 
the  snow  when  softened ;  and  this  will  in  part  depend  on 
the  feet  being  broad  ;  yet  they  must  not  be  so  broad  as 
to  interfere  with  the  activity  of  the  animal  when  the 
ground  is  sticky,  or  with  its  power  of  burrowing  holes 
or  with  other  habits  of  life. 

As  changes  in  domestic  breeds  which  take  place  so 
slowly  as  not  to  be  noticed  at  any  period,  whether  due  to 
the  selection  of  individual  variations  or  of  differences  re- 
sulting from  crosses,  are  most  important  in  understand- 
ing the  origin  of  our  domestic  productions,  and  likewise 
in  throwing  indirect  light  on  the  changes  effected  under 
nature,  I  will  give  in  detail  such  cases  as  I  have  been 
able  to  collect.  Lawrence,78  "who  paid  particular  atten- 
tion to  the  history  of  the  foxhound,  writing  in  1829,  says 
that  between  eighty  and  ninety  years  before  "  an  entirely 
new  foxhound  was  raised  through  the  breeder's  art,"  the 
ears  of  the  old  southern  hound  being  reduced,  the  bone 
and  bulk  lightened,  the  waist  increased  in  length,  and 
the  stature  somewhat  added  to.     It  is  believed  that  this 


77  'Fauna  Boreali-Araericana,'   1829,  78  "The  Horse  in  all  his  Vanities,* 

p.  62.  &c.,  1S29,  pp.  230,  234. 


Chip.  I.  MEANS    OF    MODIFICATION.  57 

was  effected  by  a  cross  with  the  greyhound.  With  re- 
spect to  this  latter  dog,  Youatt  "  who  is  generally  cau- 
tious in  his  statements,  says  that  the  greyhound  within 
the  last  fifty  years,  that  is  before  the  commencement 
of  the  present  century,  "  assumed  a  somewhat  different 
character  from  that  which  he  once  possessed.  He  is  now 
distinguished  by  a  beautiful  symmetry  of  form,  of  which 
he  could  not  once  boast,  and  he  has  even  superior  speed 
to  that  which  he  formerly  exhibited.  He  is  no  longer 
used  to  struggle  with  deer,  but  contends  with  his  fellows 
over  a  shorter-  and  speedier  course."  An  able  writer 80 
believes  that  our  English  greyhounds  are  the  descend- 
ants, progressively  improved,  of  the  large  rough  grey- 
hounds which  existed  in  Scotland  so  early  as  the  third 
century.  A  cross  at  some  former  period  with  the  Italian 
greyhound  has  been  suspected  ;  but  this  seems  hardly 
probable,  considering  the  feebleness  of  this  latter  breed. 
Lord  Orford,  as  is  well  known,  crossed  his  famous  grey- 
hounds, which  failed  in  courage,  with  a  bulldog — this 
breed  being  chosen  from  being  deficient  in  the  power  of 
scent ;  "  after  the  sixth  or  seventh  generation,"  says 
Youatt,  "  there  was  not  a  vestige  left  of  the  form  of  the 
bulldog,  but  his  courage  and  indomitable  perseverance 
remained." 

Youatt  infers,  from  a  comparison  of  *an  old  picture  of 
King  Charles's  spaniels  with  the  living  dog,  that  "  the 
breed  of  the  present  day  is  materially  altered  for  the 
worse :"  the  muzzle  has  become  shorter,  the  forehead 
more  prominent,  and  the  eyes  larger :  the  changes  in  this 
case  have  probably  been  due  to  simple  selection.  The 
setter,  as  this  author  remarks  in  another  place,  "  is  evi- 
dently the  large  spaniel  improved  to  his  present  peculiar 
size  and  beauty,  and  taught  another  way  of  marking  his 
game.     If  the  form  of  the  dog  were  not  sufficiently  satis- 


"  'The  Dog,'  1S45,  pp.   31,  35;   with  eo  In  the  '  Encyclop.  of  Rural  Sports,' 

respect  to  King  Charles's  spaniel,  p.  45  ;        p.  557. 
for  the  setter,  p.  90. 


58  DOGS.  Chap.  L 

factory  on  this  point,  we  might  have  recourse  to  history :" 
he  then  refers  to  a  document  dated  1685  bearing  on  this 
subject,  and  adds  that  the  pure  Irish  setter  shows  no  signs 
of  a  cross  with  the  pointer,  which  some  authors  suspect 
has  been  the  case  with  the  English  setter.  Another 
writer  81  remarks  that,  if  the  mastiff  and  English  bulldog 
had  formerly  been  as  distinct  as  they  are  at  the  pi'esent 
time  (i.e.  1828),  so  accurate  an  observer  as  the  poet  Gay 
(who  was  the  author  of  'Rural  Sports'  in  1711)  would 
have  spoken  in  his  Fable  of  the  Bull  and  the  Bulldog,  and 
not  of  the  Bull  and  the  Mastiff.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  fancy  bulldogs  of  the  present  day,  now  that  they 
are  not  used  for  bull-baiting,  have  become  greatly  reduced 
in  size,  without  any  express  intention  on  the  part  of  the 
breeder.  Our  pointers  are  certainly  descended  from  a 
Spanish  breed,  as  even  their  names,  Don,  Ponto,  Carlos, 
&c,  would  show  :  it  is  said  that  they  were  not  known  in 
England  before  the  Revolution  in  1688  ;  M  but  the  breed 
since  its  introduction  has  been  much  modified,  for  Mr. 
Borrow,  who  is  a  sportsman  and  knows  Spain  intimately 
well,  informs  me  that  he  has  not  seen  in  that  country  any 
breed  "  corresponding  in  figure  with  the  English  pointer ; 
but  there  are  genuine  pointers  near  Xeres  which  have 
been  imported  by  English  gentlemen."  A  nearly  parallel 
case  is  offered  by  the  Newfoundland  dog,  which  was  cer- 
tainly brought  into  England  from  that  country,  but  which 
has  since  been  so  much  modified  that,  as  several  writers 
have  observed,  it  does  not  now  closely  resemble  any  ex- 
isting native  dog  in  Newfoundland.83 

These  several  cases  of  slow  and  gradual  changes  in  our 
English  dogs  possess  some  interest;  for  though  the 
changes  have  generally,  but  not  invariably,  been  caused 


81  '  The  Farrier,'  182S,  vol.  i.  p.  337.  the  Esquimaux  dog'  and  a  large  French 

82  See  Col.  Hamilton  Smith  on  the  an-  hound.  See  Dr.  Hodgkin,  '  Brit  Assoc.,' 
tiquity  of  the  Pointer,  in  '  Naturalist's  1S44 ;  Bechstein's  '  Naturgesch.  Deutsch- 
Library,'  vol.  x.  p.  196.  lands,'   Band    i.  s.  574  ;    '  Naturalist's 

83  The  Newfoundland  dog  is  believed  Library,'  vol.  x.  p.  132 ;  also  Mr.  Jukes' 
to  have  originated  from  a  cross  between  '  Excursion  in  and  about  Newfoundland.' 


Chap.  I.       DOMESTIC  CATS  I    THEIR  PARENTAGE.  51) 

by  one  or  two  crosses  with  a  distinct  breed,  yet  we  may 
feel  sure,  from  the  well-known  extreme  variability  of 
crossed  breeds,  that  rigorous  and  long-continued  selection 
must  have  been  practised,  in  order  to  improve  them  in  a 
definite  manner.  As  soon  as  any  strain  or  family  became 
slightly  improved  or  better  adapted  to  altered  circum- 
stances, it  would  tend  to  supplant  the  older  and  less  im- 
proved strains.  For  instance,  as  soon  as  the  old  foxhound 
was  improved  by  a  cross  with  the  greyhound,  or  by  sim- 
ple selection,  and  assumed  its  present  character — and  the 
change  was  probably  required  by  the  increased  fleetness 
of  our  hunters — it  rapidly  spread  throughout  the  country, 
and  is  now  everywhere  nearly  uniform.  But  the  process 
of  improvement  is  still  going  on,  for  every  one  tries  to 
improve  his  strain  by  occasionally  procuring  dogs  from 
the  best  kennels.  Through  this  process  of  gradual  substi- 
tution the  old  English  hound  has  been  lost ;  and  so  it  has 
been  with  the  old  Irish  greyhound  and  apparently  with 
the  old  English  bulldog.  But  the  extinction  of  former 
breeds  is  apparently  aided  by  another  cause ;  for  when- 
ever a  breed  is  kept  in  scanty  numbers,  as  at  present  with 
the  bloodhound,  it  is  reared  with  difficulty,  and  this  ap- 
parently is  due  to  the  evil  effects  of  long-continued  close 
interbreeding.  As  several  breeds  of  the  dog  have  been 
slightly  but  sensibly  modified  within  so  short  a  period  as 
the  last  one  or  two  centuries,  by  the  selection  of  the  best 
individual  dogs,  modified  in  many  cases  by  crosses  with 
other  breeds  ;  and  as  we  shall  hereafter  see  that  the  breed- 
ing of  dogs  was  attended  to  in  ancient  times,  as  it  still  is 
by  savages,  we  may  conclude  that  we  have  in  selection, 
even  if  only  occasionally  practised,  a  potent  means  of 
modification. 

Domestic  Cats. 

Cats  have  been  domesticated  in  the  East  from  an  ancient 
period ;  Mr.  Blyth  informs  me  that  they  are  mentioned 
in  a  Sanskrit  writing  2000  years  old,  and  in  Egypt  their 


60  DOMESTIC    CATS.  Chap.  I. 

antiquity  is  known  to  be  even  greater,  as  shown  by  mon- 
umental drawings  and  their  mummied  bodies.  These 
mummies,  according  to  De  Blainville,84  who  has  particu- 
larly studied  the  subject,  belong  to  no  less  than  three 
species,  namely,  F.  caligulata,  bubattes,  and  chaus.  The 
two  former  species  are  said  to  be  still  found,  both  wild 
and  domesticated,  in  parts  of  Egypt.  F.  caligulata 
presents  a  difference  in  the  first  inferior  milk  molar  tooth, 
as  compared  with  the  domestic  cats  of  Europe,  which 
makes  De  Blainville  conclude  that  it  is  not  one  of  the 
parent-forms  of  our  cats.  Several  naturalists,  as  Pallas, 
Temminck,  Blyth,  believe  that  domestic  cats  are  the  de- 
scendants of  several  species  commingled :  it  is  certain 
that  cats  cross  readily  with  various  wild  species,  and  it 
would  appear  that  the  character  of  the  domestic  breeds 
has,  at  least  in  some  cases,  been  thus  affected.  Sir  W. 
Jardine  has  no  doubt  that,  "  in  the  "north  of  Scotland, 
there  has  been  occasional  crossing  with  our  native  species 
(F.  sylvestris),  and  that  the  result  of  these  crosses  has 
been  kept  in  our  houses.  I  have  seen,"  he  adds,  "  many 
cats  very  closely  resembling  the  wild  cat,  and  one  or  two 
that  could  scarcely  be  distinguished  from  it."  Mr. 
Blyth86  remarks  on  this  passage,  "but  such  cats  are 
never  seen  in  the  southern  parts  of  England  ;  still,  as 
compared  with  any  Indian  tame  cat,  the  affinity  of  the 
ordinary  British  cat  to  F.  sylvestris  is  manifest ;  and  due 
I  suspect  to  frequent  intermixture  at  a  time  when  the 
tame  cat  was  first  introduced  into  Britain  and  continued 
rare,  while  the  wild  species  was  far  more  abundant  than 
at  present."  In  Hungary,  Jeitteles 86  was  assured  on 
trustworthy  authority  that  a  wild  male  cat  crossed  with 


84  De  Blainville, '  Osteographie,  Felis,'  Sir  W,  Jardine  is  quoted  from  this  Re- 

p.  65,  on  the  character  of  F.  caligulata:  port.     Mr.  Blyth,  who  has  especially  at- 

pp.  So,  89,  90,  175,  on  the  other  mum-  tended  to  the  wild  and  domestic  cats  of 

mied  species.     He  quotes  Ehrenberg  on  India,  has  given  in  this  Report  a  very 

F.  maniculata  being  mummied.  interesting  discussion  on  their  origin. 

8i  Asiatic  Soc.  of  Calcutta  ;  Curator's  e"  '  Fauna  Hungarte  Sup.,'  1S62,  s.  12. 
Report,  Aug.  1S56.    The  passage  from 


Chip.  I.  THEIR    VARIATION.  61 

a  female  domestic  cat,  and  that  the  hybrids  long  lived  in 
a  domesticated  state.  In  Algiers  the  domestic  cat  has 
crossed  with  the  wild  cat  (F.  Lybica)  of  that  country." 
In  South  Africa,  as  Mr.  E.  Layard  informs  me,  the  do- 
mestic cat  intermingles  freely  with  the  wild  F.  caffret ; 
he  has  seen  a  pair  of  hybrids  which  were  quite  tame  and 
particularly  attached  to  the  lady  who  brought  them  up  ; 
and  Mr.  Fry  has  found  that  these  hybrids  are  fertile.  In 
India  the  domestic  cat,  according  to  Mr.  Blyth,  has  cross- 
ed with  four  Indian  species.  With  respect  to  one  of 
these  species,  F.  cheats,  an  excellent  observer,  Sir  W. 
Elliot,  informs  me  that  he  once  killed,  near  Madras,  a 
wild  brood,  which  were  evidently  hybrids  from  the  do- 
mestic cat ;  these  young  animals  had  a  thick  lynx-like 
tail  and.  the  .broad  brown  bar  on  the  inside  of  the  fore- 
arm characteristic  of  F.  chaus.  Sir  W.  Elliot  adds  that 
he  has  often  observed  this  same  mark  on  the  forearms  of 
domestic  cats  in  India.  Mr.  Blyth  states  that  domestic 
cats  coloured  nearly  like  F.  cheats,  but  not  resembling 
that  species  in  shape,  abound  in  Bengal ;  he  adds,  "  such 
a  colouration  is  utterly  unknown  in  European  cats,  and 
the  proper  tabby  markings  (pale  streaks  on  a  black 
ground,  peculiarly  and  symmetrically  disposed)  so  com- 
mon in  English  cats,  ai-e  never  seen  in  those  of  India." 
Dr.  D.  Short  has  assured  Mr.  Blyth88  that  at  Hansi  hy- 
brids between  the  common  cat  and  F.  ornata  (or  tor- 
quota)  occur,  "  and  that  many  of  the  domestic  cats  of 
that  part  of  India  were  undistinguishable  from  the  wild 
F.  ornata."  Azara  states,  but  only  on  the  authority  of 
the  inhabitants,  that  in  Paraguay  the  cat  has  crossed 
with  two  native  species.  From  these  several  cases  we 
see  that  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  America,  the  com- 
mon cat,  which  lives  a  freer  life  than  most  other  domesti- 
cated animals,  has  crossed  with  various  wild   species  ; 


8T  Isld.  Geoffroy  Saint  Hilaire,  '  Hist.  Xat.  Gen.,'  torn.  iii.  p.  177. 
•8  '  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,'  1S63,  p.  184. 


62  DOMESTIC    CATS.  Chap.  L 

and  that  in  some  instances  the  crossing  has  been  suffi- 
ciently frequent  to  affect  the  character  of  the  breed. 

Whether  domestic  cats  have  descended  from  several 
distinct  species,  or  have  only  been  modified  by  occa- 
sional crosses,  their  fertility,  as  far  as  is  known,  is  unim- 
paired. The  large  Angora  or  Persian  cat  is  the  most  dis- 
tinct in  structure  and  habits  of  all  the  domestic  breeds ; 
and  is  believed  by  Pallas,  but  on  no  distinct  evidence,  to 
be  descended  from  the  F.  manul  of  middle  Asia ;  but  I 
am  assured  by  Mr.  Blyth  that  this  cat  breeds  freely  with 
Indian  cats,  which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  have  appa- 
rently been  much  crossed  with  F  chaiis.  In  England 
half-bred  Angora  cats  are  perfectly  fertile  with  the  com- 
mon cat;  I  do  not  know  whether  the  half-breeds -are  fer- 
tile one  with  another";  but  as  they  are  common  .in  some 
parts  of  Europe,  any  marked  degree  of  sterility  could 
hardly  fail  to  have  been  noticed. 

Within  the  same  country  we  do  not  meet  with  distinct 
races  of  the  cat,  as  we  do  of  dogs  and  of  most  other 
domestic  animals ;  though  the  cats  of  the  same  country 
present  a  considerable  amount  of  fluctuating  variability. 
The  explanation  obviously  is  that,  from  their  nocturnal 
and  rambling  habits,  indiscriminate  crossing  cannot  with- 
out much  trouble  be  prevented.  Selection  cannot  be 
brought  into  play  to  produce  distinct  breeds,  or  to  keep 
those  distinct  which  have  been  imported  from  foreign 
lands.  On  the  other  hand,  in  islands  and  in  countries 
completely  separated  from  each  other,  we  meet  with 
breeds  more  or  less  distinct ;  and  these  cases  are  worth 
giving  as  showing  that  the  scarcity  of  distinct  races  in 
the  same  country  is  not  caused  by  a  deficiency  of  varia- 
bility in  the  animal.  The  tailless  cats  of  the  Isle  of  Man 
are  said  to  differ  from  common  cats  not  only  in  the  want 
of  a  tail,  but  in  the  greater  length  of  their  hind  legs,  in 
the  size  of  their  heads,  and  in  habits.  The  Creole  cat  of 
Antigua,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Nicholson,  is  smaller, 
and  has  a  more  elongated  head,  than  the  British  cat.    In 


Chap.  I.  THEIR    VARIATION.  G3 

Ceylon,  as  Mr.  Thwaites  writes  to  me,  every  one  at  first 
notices  the  different  appearance  of  the  native  cat  from 
the  English  animal ;  it  is  of  small  size,  with  closely  lying 
hairs ;  its  head  is  small,  with  a  receding  forehead ;  but 
the  ears  are  large  and  sharp ;  altogether  it  has  what  is 
there  called  a  "low-caste"  appearance.  Rengger89  says 
that  the  domestic  cat,  which  has  been  bred  for  300  years 
in  Paraguay,  presents  a  striking  difference  from  the  Eu- 
ropean cat ;  it  is  smaller  by  a  fourth,  has  a  more  lanky 
body,  its  hair  is  short,,  shining,  scanty,  and  lies  close, 
especially  on  the  tail :  he  adds  that  the  change  has  been 
less  at  Ascension,  the  capital  of  Paraguay,  owing  to  the 
continual  crossing  with  newly  imported  cats;  and  this 
fact  well  illustrates  the  importance  of  separation.  The 
conditions  of  life  in  Paraguay  appear  not  to  be  highly 
favourable  «to  the  cat,  for,  though  they  have  run  half- 
wild,  they  do  not  become  thoroughly  feral,  like  so  many 
other  European  animals.  In  another  part  of  South  Ame- 
rica, according  to  Roulin,90  the  introduced  cat  has  lost 
the  habit  of  uttering  its  hideous  nocturnal  howl.  The 
Rev.  W.  D.  Fox  purchased  a  cat  in  Portsmouth,  which 
he  was  told  came  from  the  coast  of  Guinea ;  its  skin  was 
black  and  wrinkled,  fur  bluish-grey  and  short,  its  ears 
rather  bare,  legs  long,  and  whole  aspect  peculiar.  This 
"  negro  "  cat  was  fertile  with  common  cats.  On  the  op- 
posite coast  of  Africa,  at  Mombas,  Captain  Owen,  R.N.,01 
states  that  all  the  cats  are  covered  with  short  stiff  hair 
instead  of  fur :  he  gives  a  curious  account  of  a  cat  from 
Algoa  Bay,  which  had  been  kept  for  some  time  on  board 
and  could  be  identified  with  certainty;  this  animal  was 
left  for  only  eight  weeks  at  Mombas,  but  during  that 
short  period  it  "  underwent  a  complete  metamorphosis, 
"  having  parted  with  its  sandy-coloured   fur."     A  cat 


89  '  Saeugethiere  von  Paraguay,'  1830,  p.  346.     Gomara  first  noticed  this  fact  in 

*.  21 '2.  1554. 

80  '  Mem.   presenters    par  divers   Sa-  "  '  Narrative  of  Voyages,'  vol.  ii.  p. 

vans:  Acad.  Roy.  des  Sciences,'  torn.  vi.  ISO. 


64  DOMESTIC    CATS.  Chap,  t 

from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  has  been  described  by 
Desmarest  as  remarkable  from  a  red  stripe  extending 
along  die  whole  length  of  its  back.  Throughout  an  im- 
mense area,  namely,  the  Malayan  archipelago,  Siam,  Pe- 
gu, and  Burmah,  all  the  cats  have  truncated  tails  about 
half  the  proper  length,92  often  with  a  sort  of  knot  at  the 
end.  In  the  Caroline  archipelago  the  cats  have  very  long 
legs,  and  are  of  a  reddish-yellow  colour.'3  In  China  a 
breed  lias  drooping  ears.  At  Tobolsk,  according  to 
Gmelin,  there  is  a  red-coloured  breed.  In  Asia,  also, 
we  find  the  well-known  Angora  or  Persian  breed. 

The  domestic  cat  has  run  wild  in  several  countries,  and 
everywhere  assumes,  as  far  as  can  be  judged  by  the  short 
recorded  descriptions  a  uniform  character.  Near  Mal- 
donado,  in  La  Plata,  I  shot  one  which  seemed  perfectly 
wild;  it  was  carefully  examined  by  Mr.  Waterhouse,94 
who  found  nothing  remarkable  in  it,  excepting  its  great 
size.  In  New  Zealand,  according  to  Dieffenbach,  the  feral 
cats  assume  a  streaky  grey  colour  like  that  of  wild  cats ; 
and  this  is  the  case  with  the  half-wild  cats  of  the  Scotch 
Highlands. 

We  have  seen  that  distant  countries  possess  distinct  do- 
mestic races  of  the  cat.  The  difference  may  be  in  part  due 
to  descent  from  several  aboriginal  species,  or  at  least  to 
crosses  with  them.  In  some  cases,  as  in  Paraguay,  Mombas, 
and  Antigua,  the  differences  seem  due  to  the  direct  action 
of  different  conditions  of  life.  In  other  cases  some  slight 
effect  may  possibly  be  attributed  to  natural  selection,  as 
cats  in  many  cases  have  largely  to  support  themselves 
and  to  escape  diverse  dangers.  But  man,  owing  to  the 
difficulty  of  pairing  cats,  has  done  nothing  by  methodi- 
cal selection  ;    and  probably  very  little  by  unintentional 


9a  J.  Crawfurd,  '  Descript.  Diet,  of  the  p.  308. 
Indian  Islands,'  p.  255.    The  Madagas-  94  '  Zoology  of  the  Voyage  of  the  Bea- 

car  cat  is  said  to  have  a  twisted  tail :  see  gle,     Mammalia,'    p.   20.     Dieffenbach, 

Desmarest,  in  '  Encyclop.  Nat.  Mamm.,'  'Travels  in  New  Zealand,'  vol.  ii.  p.  185. 

1620,  p.  233,  for  some  of  the  other  breeds.  Ch.  St.  John,  'Wild  Sports  of  the  High- 

M  Admiral  Lutke's  Voyage,  vol  iii.  lands,'  1846,  p.  40. 


Chap.  I.  .   THEIR    VARIATION.  65 

selection ;  though  in  each  litter  he  generally  saves  the 
prettiest,  and  values  most  a  good  breed  of  mouse  or  rat- 
catchers. Those  cats  which  have  a  strong  tendency  to 
prowl  after  game,  generally  get  destroyed  by  traps.  As 
cats  are  so  much  petted,  a  breed  bearing  the  same  rela- 
tion to  other  cats,  that  lapdogs  bear  to  larger  dogs,  would 
have  been  much  valued  ;  and  if  selection  could  have  been 
applied,  we  should  certainly  have  had  many  breeds  in 
each  long-civilized  country,  for  there  is  plenty  of  variabil- 
ity to  work  upon. 

We  see  in  this  country  considerable  diversity  in  size, 
some  in  the  proportions  of  the  body,  and  extreme  variabili- 
ty in  colouring.  I  have  only  lately  attended  to  this  subject, 
but  have  already  heard  of  some  singular  cases  of  varia- 
tion ;  one  of  a  cat  born  in  the  West  Indies  toothless,  and 
remaining  so  all  its  life.  Mr.  Tegetmeier  has  shown  me  ■ 
the  skull  of  a  female  cat  with  its  canines  so  much  devel- 
oped that  they  protruded  uncovei'ed  beyond  the  lips  ;  the 
tooth  with  the  fang  being  *95,  and  the  part  projecting 
from  the  gum  "6  of  an  inch  in  length.  I  have  heard  of  a 
family  of  six-toed  cats.  The  tail  varies  greatly  in  length  ; 
I  have  seen  a  cat  which  always  carried  its  tail  flat  on  its 
back»when  pleased.  The  ears  vary  in  shape,  and  certain 
strains,  in  England,  inherit  a  pencil-like  tuft  of  hairs, 
above  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  length,  on  the  tips  of  their 
ears  ;  and  this  same  peculiarity,  according  to  Mr.  Blyth, 
characterises  some  cats  in  India.  The  great  variability 
in  the  length  of  the  tail  and  the  lynx-like  tufts  of  hairs  on 
the  ears  are  apparently  .analogous  to  differences  in  certain 
wild  species  of  the  genus.  A  much  more  important  dif- 
ference, according  to  Daubenton,96  is  that  the  intestines 
of  domestic  cats  are  wider,  and  a  third  longer,  than  in 
wild  cats  of  the  same  size ;  and  this  apparently  has  been 
caused  by  their  less  strictly  carnivorous  diet. 


96  Quoted  by  Isid.  Geoffioy, '  Hist.  Nat.  Gen.,'  torn.  iii.  p.  427. 


66  HORSES.  Chap.  II. 


CHAPTER  H. 

HORSES  AND  ASSES. 

HORSE.  —  DIFFERENCES  IN  THE  BREEDS  —  INDIVIDUAL  VARIA- 
BILITY OF  —  DIRECT  EFFECTS  OF  THE  CONDITIONS  OF  LIFE  — 
CAN  WITHSTAND  MUCH  COLD  —  BREEDS  MUCH  MODIFIED  BY  SE-  . 
LECTION  —  COLOURS  OF  THE  HORSE — DAPPLING  —  DARK  STRIPES 
ON  THE  SPINE,  LEGS,  SHOULDERS,  AND  FOREHEAD. —  DUN-COLOUR- 
ED HORSES  MOST  FREQUENTLY  STRIPED  —  STRIPES  PROBABLY 
DUE  TO  REVERSION  TO  THE  PRIMITIVE   STATE  OF  THE  HORSE. 

ASSES.  —  BREEDS  OF  —  COLOUR  OF  —  LEG-  AND  SHOULDER-  STRIPES 
—  SHOULDER-STRIPES  SOMETIMES  ABSENT,  SOMETIMES  FORKED. 

The  history  of  the  Horse  is  lost  in  antiquity.  Remains 
of  this  animal  in  a  domesticated  condition  have  been 
found  in  the  Swiss  lake-dwellings,  belonging  to  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  Stone  period.1  At  the  present  time  the 
number  of  breeds  is  great,  as  may  be  seen  by  consujting 
any  treatise  on  the  Horse.2  Looking  only  to  the  native 
ponies  of  Great  Britain,  those  of  the  Shetland  Isles, 
Wales,  the  New  Forest,  and  Devonshire  are  distinguish- 
able ;  and  so  it  is  with  each  separate  island  in  the  great 
Malay  archipelago.3  Some  of  the  breeds  present  great 
dhTerences  in  size,  shape  of  ears,  length  of  mane,  pro- 


1  Rutimeyer,  'Fauna  derPfahlbauten,'  many  different  breeds,  every  island  hav- 
1S61,  s.  122.  ing  at  least  one  peculiar  to  it."    Thus  in 

2  See  Youatt  on  the  Horse  :  J.  Law-  Sumatra  there  are  at  least  tivo  breeds  ; 
rence  on  the  Horse,  1S29  :  W.  C.  L.  Mar-  in  Achin  and  Batubara  one ;  in  Java  sev- 
tin,  'History  of  the  Horse/  1845  :  Col.  eral  breeds  ;  one  in  Bali,  Lomboc,  Sum- 
Ham.  Smith,  in  'Naturalist's  Library,  bawa  (one  of  the  best  breeds),  Tambora, 
Horses,'  1S41,  vol.  xii.  :  Prof.  Veith,  Biroa,  Gunung-api,  Celebes,  Sumba,  and 
'Die  Naturgesch.  Haussaugethiere,'  1856.  Philippines.     Other  breeds  are  specified 

3  Crawfurd,  '  Descript.  Diet,  of  Indian  by  Zollinger  in  the  '  Journal  of  the  In- 
Islands,'    1856,    p. "  153.     "  There    are  dian  Archipelago,'  vol.  v.  p.  343,  &c. 


Chap.  II.  THEIR    VARIATION.  67 

portions  of  the  body,  form  of  the  withers  and  hind  quar- 
ters, and  especially  in  the  head.  Compare  the  race-horse, 
dray-horse,  and  a  Shetland  pony  in  size,  configuration,  and 
disposition ;  and  see  how  much  greater  the  difference  is 
than  between  the  six  or  seven  other  living  species  of 
genus  Equus. 

Of  individual  variations  not  known  to  characterise 
particular  breeds,  and  not  great  or  injurious  enough  to 
be  called  monstrosities,  I  have  not  collected  many  cases. 
Mr.  G.  Brown,  of  the  Cirencester  Agricultural  College, 
who  has  particularly  attended  to  the  dentition  of  our  do- 
mestic animals,  writes  to  me  that  he  has  "  several  times 
noticed  eight  permanent  incisors  instead  of  six  in  the 
jaw."  Male  horses  alone  properly  have  canines,  but 
they  are  occasionally  found  in  the  mare,  though  of  small 
size.4  The  number  of  ribs  is  properly  eighteen,  but 
Youatt 5  asserts  that  not  unfrequently  there  are  niueteen 
on  each  side,  the  additional  one  being  always  the  poste- 
rior rib.  I  have  seen  several  notices  of  variations  in  the 
bones  of  the  leg  ;  thus  Mr.  Price 6  speaks  of  an  addition- 
al bone  in  the  hock,  and  of  certain  abnormal  appearances 
between  the  tibia  and  astragalus,  as  quite  common  in 
Irish  horses,  and  not  due  to  disease.  Horses  have  often 
been  observed,  according  to  M.  Gaudry,7  to  possess  a 
trapezium  and  a  rudiment  of  a  fifth  metacarpal  bone,  so 
that  "  one  sees  appearing  by  monstrosity,  in  the  foot  .of 
the  horse,  structures  which  normally  exist  in  the  foot  of 
the  Hipparion," — an  allied  and  extinct  animal.  In  vari- 
ous countries  horn-like  projections  have  been  observed 
on  the  frontal  bones  of  the  horse;  in  one  case  described 
by  Mr.  Percival  they  arose  about  two  inches  above  the 
orbital  processes,  and  were  "  very  like  those  in  a  calf 
from  five  to  six  months  old,"  being  from  half  to  three- 


*  '  The  Horse,'  Ac. .  by  John  Lawrence,  6  Proc.  Veterinary  Assoc. ,  in  '  The  Ve- 

1829,  p.  14.  terir.ary,'  vol.  xiii.  p.  42. 

8  ' The  Veterinary,'  London,  vol,  v.  p.  7  'Bulletin  de  la  Soc.  Geolog.,'  torn. 

643.                  •  xxii.,  1866,  p.  22. 


68  HORSES.  '  Chap.  II. 

quarters  of  an  inch  in  length."  Azara  has  described 
two  cases  in  South'  America  in  which  the  projections 
were  between  three  and  four  inches  in  length  :  other  in- 
stances have  occurred  in  Spain. 

That  there  has  been  much  inherited  variation  in  the 
horse  cannot  be  doubted,  when  we  reflect  on  the  number 
of  the  breeds  existing  throughout  the  world,  or  even 
within  the  same  country,  and  when  we  know  that  they 
have  largely  increased  in  number  since  the  earliest 
known  records.9  Even  in  so  fleeting  a  character  as  co- 
lour, Hofacker 10  found  that,  out  of  two  hundred  and  six- 
teen cases  in  which  horses  of  the  same  colour  were  paired, 
only  eleven  pairs  produced  foals  of  a  quite  different  co- 
lour. As  Professor  Low "  has  remarked,  the  English 
race-horse  offers  the  best  possible  evidence  of  inheritance. 
The  pedigree  of  a  race-horse  is  of  more  value  in  judging 
of  its  probable  success  than  its  appearance  :  "  King  He- 
rod" gained  in  prizes  201,505/.  sterling,  and  begot  497 
winners  ;  "  Eclipse  "  begot  334  winners. 

Whether  the  whole  amount  of  difference  between  the 
various  breeds  be  due  to  variation  is  doubtful.  From  the 
fertility  of  the  most  distinct  breeds  18  when  crossed,  nat- 
uralists have  generally  looked  at  all  the  breeds  as  having 
descended  from  a  single  species.  Few  will  agree  with 
Colonel  H.  Smith,  who  believes  that  they  have  descend- 
ed from  no  less  than  five  primitive  and  differently  colour- 
ed stocks.13      But  as  several  species  and  varieties  of  the 


8  Mr.  Percival,  of  the  Enniskillen  Dra-  strongest  terms  on  the  inheritance  by 

goons,  in  '  The  Veterinary,'  vol.  i.  p.  224 :  the  horse  of  all  good  and  bad  tendencies 

see  Azara,  '  Des  Quadrupedes  du  Para-  and  qualities.     Perhaps  the  principle  of 

guay,'  torn.  ii.  p.  313.    The  French  trans-  inheritance  is  not  really  stronger  in  the 

latorof  Azara  refers  to  other  cases  men-  horse  than  in  any  other  animal;    but, 

tioned  by  Huzard  as  occurring  in  Spain.  from  its  value,  the  tendency  has   been 

0  Godron, '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  i.  p.  37S.  more  carefully  observed. 

10  '  Ueber.    die    Eigenschafter.,'    &c,  12  Andrew   Knight  crossed  breeds  so 
1S28,  s.  10.  different  in  size  as  a  dray-horse  and  Nor- 

11  '  Domesticated  Animals  of  the  Brit-  wegian  pony  ;  see  A.  Walker  on   '  Inter- 
ish  Islands,'  pp.  527,  532.    In  all  the  ve-  marriage,'  1838,  p.  205. 

terinary  treatises  and  papers  which  I  13  '  Naturalist's  Library,' Horses,  vol. 

have  read,   the  writers  insist    in    the  xii.  p.  208. 


Chap.  n.  THEIR    VARIATION.  69 

horse  existed  "  during  the  later  tertiary  periods,  and  as 
Rutimeyer  found  differences  in  the  size  and  form  of  the 
skull  in  the  earliest  known  domesticated  horses,15  we 
ought  not  to  feel  sure  that  all  our  breeds  have  descended 
from  a  single  species.  As  we  see  that  the  savages  of 
North  and  South  America  easily  reclaim  the  feral  horses, 
there  is  no  improbability  in  savages  in  various  quarters 
of  the  world  having  domesticated  more  than  one  native 
species  or  natural  race.  No  aboriginal  or  truly  wild  horse 
is  positively  known  now  to  exist ;  for  it  is  thought  by 
some  authors  that  the  wild  horses  of  the  East  are  escaped 
domestic  animals.16  If  our  domestic  breeds  have  descend- 
ed from  several  species  or  natural  races,  these  apparently 
have  all  become  extinct  in  the  wild  state.  With  our 
present  knowledge,  the  common  view  that  all  have  de- 
scended from  a  single  species  is,  perhaps,  the  most  probable. 
With  respect  to  the  causes  of  the  modifications  which 
horses  have  undergone,  the  conditions  of  life  seem  to 
produce  a  considerable  direct  effect.  Mr.  D.  Forbes,  who 
has  had  excellent  opportunities  of  comparing  the  horses 
of  Spain  with  those  of  South  America,  informs  me  that 
the  horses  of  Chile,  which  have  lived  under  nearly  the 
same  conditions  as  their  progenitors  in  Andalusia,  remain 
unaltered,  whilst  the  Pampas  horses  and  the  Puno  ponies 
are  considerably  modified.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
horses  become  greatly  reduced  in  size  and  altered  in  ap- 
pearance by  living  on  mountains  and  islands;  and  this 
apparently  is  due  to  want  of  nutritious  or  varied  food. 
Every  one  knows  how  small  and  rugged  the  ponies  are  on 
the  Northern  islands  and  on  the  mountains  of  Europe. 
Corsica  and  Sardinia  have  their  native  ponies ;  and  there 


14  Gervais,  'Hist.  Nat.  Mamm.,'  torn.  1S45,  p.  34),  in  arguing  against  the  belief 
ii.  p.  143.  Owen,  '  British  Fossil  Mam-  that  the  wild  Eastern  horses  are  merely 
mals,'  p.  3S3.  feral,  has  remarked  on  the  improbability 

15  '  Kenntniss  der  fossilen  Pferde,'  of  man  in  ancient  times  having  extirpated 
ISO,  s.  131.  a  species  in  a  region  where  it  can  now 

ls  Mr.  W.  C  L.  Martin  ('The  Horse,'  exist  in  numbers. 


70  HOESES.  Chap.  II. 

were,17  or  still  are,  on  some  islands  on  the  coast  of  Virgi- 
nia, ponies  like  those  of  the  Shetland  Islands,  which  are 
believed  to  have  originated  through  exposure  to  unfa- 
vourable conditions.  The  Puno  ponies,  which  inhabit  the 
lofty  regions  of  the  Cordillera,  are,  as  I  hear  from  Mr.  D. 
Forbes,  strange  little  creatures,  very  unlike  their  Spanish 
progenitors.  Further  south,  in  the  Falkland  Islands,  the 
offspring  of  the  horses  imported  in  1764  have  already  so 
much  deteriorated  in  size 18  and  strength  that  they  are 
unfitted  for  catching  wild  cattle  with  the  lasso  ;  so  that 
fresh  horses  have  to  be  brought  for  this  purpose  from  La 
Plata  at  a  great  expense.  The  reduced  size  of  the  horses 
bred  on  both  southern  and  northern  islands,  and  on  sev- 
eral mountain-chains,  can  hardly  have  been  caused  by  the 
cold,  as  a  similar  reduction  has  occurred  on  the  Virginian 
and  Mediterranean  islands.  The  horse  can  withstand  in- 
tense cold,  for  wild  troops  live  on  the  plains  of  Siberia 
under  lat.  56°,19  and  aboriginally  the  horse  must  have  in- 
habited countries  annually  covered  with  snow,  for  he  long 
retains  the  instinct  of  scraping  it  away  to  get  at  the  herb- 
age beneath.  The  wild  tarpans  in  the  East  have  this  in- 
stinct ;  and,  as  I  am  informed  by  Admiral  Sulivan,  this  is 
likewise  the  case  with  the  horses  which  have  run  wild  on 
the  Falkland  Islands;  now  this  is  the  more  remarkable  as 
the  progenitors  of  these  horses  could  not  have  followed 
this  instinct  during  many  generations  in  La  Plata :  the 
wild  cattle  of  the  Falklands  never  scrape  away  the  snow, 
and  perish  when  the  ground  is  long  covered.  In  the 
northern  parts  of  America  the  horses,  descended  from 
those  introduced  by  the  Spanish  conquerors  of  Mexico, 
have  the  same  habit,  as  have  the  native  bisons,  but  not  so 
the  cattle  introduced  from  Europe.20 


17  'Transact.  Maryland  Academy,'  19  Pallas,  'Act.  Acad.  St.  Peters- 
vol.  i.  part  i.  p.  28.  burgh,'  1777,  part  ii.  p.  265.      With  *re- 

18  Mr.  Mackinnon  on  '  The  Falkland  spect  to  the  tarpans  scraping  away  the 
Islands,'  p.  25.  The  average  height  of  snow,  see  Col.  Hamilton  Smith  in  '  Nat. 
the    Falkland  horses  is  said  to   be  14  Lib.,'  vol.  xii.  p.  165. 

hands  2  inches.  See  also  my  '  Journal  of  20    Franklin's  'Narrative,'  vol.  i.  p. 

Researches.'  87;  note  by  Sir  J.  Richardson. 


Chap.  II.  THEIR    COLOURS    AND    STRIPES.  71 

The  horse  can  flourish  under  intense  heat  as  well  as 
under  intense  cold,  for  he  is  known  to  come  to  the  high- 
est perfection,  though  not  attaining  adargc  size,  in  Arabia 
and  northern  Africa.  Much  humidity  is  apparently  more 
injurious  to  the  horse  than  heat  or  cold.  Iir  the  Falk- 
land Islands,  horses  suffer  much  from  the  dampness ;  and 
this  same  circumstance  may  perhaps  partly  account  for 
the  singular  fact  that  to  the  eastward  of  the  Bay  of  Ben- 
gal," over  an  enormous  and  humid  area,  in  Ava,  Pegu, 
Siam,  the  Malayan  archipelago,  the  Loo  Choo  Islands, 
and  a  large  part  of  China,  no  full-sized  horse  is  found. 
When  we  advance  as  far  eastward  as  Japan,  the  horse 
reacquires  his  full  size.22 

With  most  of  our  domesticated  animals,  some  breeds 
are  kept  on  account  of  their  curiosity  or  beauty  ;  but  the 
horse  is  valued  almost  solely  for  its  utility.  Hence  semi- 
monstrous  breeds  are  not  preserved  ;  and  probably  all  the 
existing  breeds  have  been  slowly  formed  either  by  the 
direct  action  of  the  conditions  of  life,  or  through  the  se- 
lection of  individual  differences.  No  doubt  semi-mon- 
strous breeds  might  have  been  formed ;  thus  Mr.  Water- 
ton  records23  the  case  of  a  mare  which  produced  succes- 
sively three  foals  without  tails ;  so  that  a  tailless  race 
might  have  been  formed  like  the  tailless  races  of  dogs  and 
cats.  A  Russian  breed  of  horses  is  said  to  have  frizzled 
hair,  and  Azara24  relates  that  in  Paraguay  horses  are  oc- 
casionally born,  but  are  generally  destroyed,  with  hair 
like  that  on  the  head  of  a  negro ;  and  this  peculiarity  is 
transmitted  even  to  half-breeds :  it  is  a  curious  case  of 
correlation  that  such  horses  have  short  manes  and  tails, 


21  Mr.  J.  H.  Moor,  '  Notices  of  the  In-  "  J.  Crawford, '  History  of  the  Horse ;' 

dian   Archipelago:'  Singapore,  1837,  p.  'Journal  of  Royal  United  Service  Institu- 

189.     A  pony  from  Java  was  sent  ('Athe-  tion,'  vol.  iv. 

nieuro,' 1S42,  p.  71S)  to  the  Queen  only  23  'Essays  on  Natural  History,'  2nd 

28  iDches  in  height.     For  the  Loo  Choo  series,  p.  161. 

Islands,  see  Beechey's  '  Voyage,'  4th  edit.  24  '  Quadrupedes  du   Paraguay,' torn, 

vol.  i.  p.  499.  ii.  p.  333. 


72  HORSES. 


Chap.  II. 


and   their  hoofs  are  of  a   peculiar  shape  like  those  of  a 
mule. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  doubt  that  the  long-continued 
selection  of  qualities  serviceable  to  man   has  been   the 
chief  agent  in  the  formation  of  the  several  breeds  of  the 
horse.     Look  at  a  dray-horse,  and  see  how  well  adapted 
he  is  to  draw  heavy  weights,  and  how.unlike  in  appear- 
ance to  any  allied  wild  animal.     The  English  race-horse 
is  known  to  have  proceeded  from  the  commingled  blood 
of  Arabs,  Turks,  and  Barbs ;  but  selection  and  training 
have  together  made  him  a  very  different  animal  from  his 
parent-stocks.      As   a   writer  in   India,   who   evidently 
knows  the  pure  Arab  well,  asks,  who  now,  "looking  at 
our  present  breed  of  race-horses,  could  have  conceived  that 
they  were  the  result  of  the  union  of  the  Arab  horse  and 
African  mare  ?  "    The  improvement  is  so  marked  that  in 
running  for  the  Goodwood  Cup  "  the  first  descendants  of 
Arabian,  Turkish,  and  Persian  horses,  are  allowed  a  dis- 
count of  18  lbs.  weight;  and  when  both  parents  are  of 
these   countries  a  discount  of  3(3  lbs."     It   is   notorious 
that  the  Arabs  have  long  been  as  careful  about  the  pedi- 
gree of  their  horses  as  we  are,  and  this  implies  great  and 
continued  care  in  breeding.     Seeing  what  has  been  done 
in  England"  by  careful  breeding,  can  we  doubt  that  the 
Arabs  must  likewise  have  produced  during  the  course  of 
centuries  a  marked  effect  on  the  qualities  of  their  horses  ? 
But  we  may  go  much  farther  back  in  time,  for  in  the  most 
ancient  known  book,  the  Bible,  we  hear  of  studs  carefully 
kejtt  for  breeding,  and  of  horses  imported  at  high  prices 
from  various  countries.20      We  may  therefore   conclude 


26  Prof.  Low, '  Domesticated  Animals,'  with  thoroughbred  racer*"    Some  few 

p.  546.     With  respect  to  the  writer  in  In-  instances  are  on  record  of  seven-eighths 

dia,  see  '  India  Sporting  Review,'  vol.  ii.  racers  having  been  successful. 

p.    181.     As    Lawrence    has    remarked  26  Prof.    Gervais   (in  his   '  Hist.  Nat. 

('  The   Horse,'   p.  9),  "  perhaps   no  in-  Mamm.,'   torn.   ii.  p.  144)  has  collected 

stance  has  ever  occurred  of  a  three-part  many  facts  on  this  head.   For  instance, 

bred  horse  (i.e.  a  horse,   one  of  whose  Solomon  (Kings,  b.  i.  ch.  x.  v.  2S)  bought 

grand-parents  was  of  impure  blood)  sav-  horses  in  Egypt  at  a  high  price, 
ing  his  distance  in  running  two  miles 


Chap.  II.  THEIK    COLOURS    AND    STRIPES.  73 

that,  whether  or  not  the  various  existing  breeds  of  the 
horse  have  proceeded  from  one  or  more  aboriginal  stocks, 
yet  that  a*  great  amount  of  change  has  resulted  from  the 
direct  action  of  the  conditions  of  life,  and  probably  a  still 
greater  amount  from  the  long-continued  selection  by  man 
of  slight  individual  differences. 

With  several  domesticated  quadrupeds  and  birds,  cer- 
tain coloured  marks  are  either  strongly  inherited  or  tend 
to  reappear  after  having  long  been  lost.  As  this  subject 
will  hereafter  be  seen  to  be  of  importance,  I  will  give  a 
full  account  of  the  colouring  of  horses.  All  English 
breeds,  however  unlike  in  size  and  appearance,  and  sev- 
eral of  those  in  India  and  the  Malay  archipelago,  present 
a  similar  range  and  diversity  of  colour.  The  English 
race-horse,  however,  is  said 2T  never  to  be  dun-coloured ; 
but  as  dun  and  cream-coloured  horses  are  considered  by 
the  Arabs  as  worthless,  "  and  fit  only  for  Jews  to  ride," 28 
these  tints  may  have  been  removed  by  long-continued 
selection.  Horses  of  every  colour,  and  of  sucft  widely 
different  kinds  as  dray-horses,  cobs,  and  ponies,  are  all 
occasionally  dappled,29  in  the  same  manner  as  is  so  con- 
spicuous with  grey  horses.  This  fact  does  not  throw 
any  clear  light  on  the  colouring  of  the  aboriginal  horse, 
but  is  a  case  of  analogous  variation,,  for  even  asses  are 
sometimes  dappled,  and  I  have  seen,  in  the  British 
Museum,  a  hybrid  from  the  ass  and  zebra  dappled 
on  its  hinder  quarters.  By  the  expression  analogous 
variation  (and  it  is  one  that  I  shall  often  have  occasion 
to  use)  I  mean  a  variation  occurring  in  a  species  or  vari- 
ety which  resembles  a  normal  character  in  another  and 


27  'The  Field,'  July  13th,  1S61,  p.  42.  been  stated  (Martin,   'History  of    the 

28  E.  Vernon  Harcourt,  '  Sporting  in  Horse,'  p.  134)  that  duns  are  never  dap- 
Algeria,'  p.  26.  pled.     Martin  (p.   205)  refers  to   dap- 

29  I  state  this  from  my  own  observa-  pled  asses.  In  '  The  Farrier'  (London, 
tions  made  during  several  years  on  the  1828,  pp.  453,  455)  there  are. some  good 
colours  of  horses.  I  have  seen  cream-co-  remarks  on  the  dappling  of  horses ;  and 
loured,  light-dun  and  mouse-dun  horses  likewise  in  Col.  Hamilton  Smith  on  '  The 
dappled,  which  I  mention  because  it  has  Horse.' 

4 


74  HOESES.  Chap.  II. 

distinct  species  or  variety.  Analogous  variations  may- 
arise,  as  will  be  explained  in  a  future  chapter,  from  two 
or  more  forms  with  a  similar  constitution  having  been 
exjiosed  to  similar  conditions, — or  from  one  of  two  forms 
having  reacquired  through  reversion  a  character  inherited 
by  the  other  form  from  their  common  progenitor,— or 
from  both  forms  having  reverted  to  the  same  ancestral 
character.  We  shall  immediately  see  that  horses  oc- 
casionally exhibit  a  tendency  to  become  striped  over 
a  large  part  of  their  bodies ;  and  as  we  know  that  stripes 
readily  pass  into  spots  and  cloudy  marks  in  the  varieties 
of  the  domestic  cat  and  in  several  feline  species — even 
the  cubs  of  the  uniformly-coloured  lion  being  spotted 
with  dark  marks  on  a  lighter  ground — we  may  suspect 
that  the  dappling  of  the  horse,  which  has  been  noticed 
by  some  authors  with  surprise,  is  a  modification  or 
vestige  of  a  tendency  to  become  striped. 

This  tendency  in  the  horse  to  become  striped  is  in  several  respects 
an  interesting  fact.  Horses  of  all  colours,  of  the  most  diverse 
breeds,  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  often  have  a  dark  stripe  ex- 
tending along  the  spine,  from  the  mane  to  the  tail ;  but  this  is  so 
common  that  I  need  enter  into  no  particulars.30  Occasionally 
horses  are  transversely  barred  on  the  legs,  chiefly  on  the  under 
side ;  and  more  rarely  they  have  a  distinct  stripe  on  the  shoulder, 
like  that  on  the  shoulder  of  the  ass,  or  a  broad  dark  patch  repre- 
senting a  stripe.  Before  entering  on  any  details  I  must  premise  that 
the  term  dun-coloured  is  vague,  and  includes  three  groups  of  colour, 
viz.  that  between  cream-colour  and  reddish-brown,  which  graduates 
into  light-bay  or  light-chesnut — this,  I  beheve,  is  often  called 
fallow-dun  ;  secondly,  leaden  or  slate-colour  or  mouse-dun,  which 
graduates  into  an  ash-colour ;  and,  lastly,  dark-dun,  between  brown 
and  black.  In  England  I  have  examined  a  rather  large,  lightly- 
built,  fallow-dun  Devonshire  pony  (fig.  1),  with  a  conspicuous  stripe 
along  the  back,  with  light  transverse  stripes  on  the  under  sides  of 
its  front  legs,  and  with  four  parallel   stripes  on  each  shoulder. 


30  Some  details  are  given  in  '  The  Far-  A  small  Indian  chesnut  pony  had  the 

rier,'  1828,  pp.  452, 455.     One  of  the  least  same  stripe,  as  had  a  remarkably  heavy 

ponies  I  ever  saw,  of  the  colour  of  a  chesnut  cart-horse.     Race-horses   often 

mouse,  had  a  conspicuous  spinal  stripe.  have  the  spinal  stripe. 


Ciiap.  II.  THEIR    COLOURS    AND    STRIPES.  Jo 


Fig.  1. — Dun  Devonshire  Pony,  with  shoulder,  spinal,  and  leg  stripes. 

Of  these  four  stripes  the  posterior  one  was  very  minute  and  faint ; 
the  anterior  one,  on  the  other  hand,  was  long  and  broad,  but  in- 
terrupted in  the  middle,  and  truncated  at  its  lower  extremity,  with 
the  anterior  angle  produced  into  a  long  tapering  point.  I  mention 
this  latter  fact  because  the  shoulder-stripe  of  the  ass  occasionally 
presents  exactly  the  same  appearance.  I  have  had  an  outline  and 
description  sent  to  me  of  a  small,  purely-bred,  light  fallow-dun 
Welch  pony,  with  a  spinal  stripe,  a  single  transverse  stripe  on  each 
leg,  and  three  shoulder-stripes  ;  the  posterior  stripe  corresponding 
with  that  on  the  shoulder  of  the  ass  was  the  longest,  whilst  the 
two  anterior  parallel  stripes,  arising  from  the  mane,  decreased  in 
length,  in  a  reversed  manner  as  compared  with  the  shoulder  stripes 
on  the  above-described  Devonshire  pony.  I  have  seen  a  bright 
fallow-dun,  strong  cob,  with  its  front  legs  transversely  barred  on 
the  under  sides  in  the  most  conspicuous  manner ;  also  a  dark-leaden 
mouse-coloured  pony  with  similar  leg  stripes,  but  much  less  conspi- 
cuous :  also  a  bright  fallow-dun  colt,  fully  three-parts  thoroughbred, 
with  very  plain  transverse  stripes  on  the  legs  ;  also  a  chesnut-dun 
cart-horse  with  a  conspicuous  spinal  stripe,  with  distinct  traces  of 
shoulder-stripes,  but  none  on  the  legs;  I  could  add  other  cases. 
My  son  made  a  sketch  for  me  of  a  large,  heavy,  Belgian  cart-horse, 
of  a  fallow-dun,  with  a  conspicuous  spinal  stripe,  traces  of  leg- 
etripes,  and  with  two  parallel  (three  inches  apart)  stripes  about 
seven  or  eight  inches  in  length  on  both  shoulders.  I  have  seen 
another  rather  light  cart-horse,  of  a  dirty  dark  cream-colour,  with 
striped  legs,  and  on  one  shoulder  a  large  ill-defined  dark  cloudy 


76  IIOKSES.  Chap.  II. 

patch,  and  on  the  opposite  shoulder  two  parallel  faint  stripes.  All 
the  cases  yet  mentioned  are  duns  of  various  tints ;  but  Mr.  W.  W. 
Edwards  has  seen  a  nearly  thoroughbred  chesnut  horse  which  had 
the  spinal  stripe,  and  distinct  bars  on  the  legs ;  and  I  have  seen 
two  bay  carriage-horses  with  black  spinal  stripes ;  one  of  these 
horses  had  on  each  shoulder  a  light  shoulder-stripe,  and  the  other 
had  a  broad  black  ill-defined  stripe,  running  obliquely  half-way 
down  each  shoulder ;  neither  had  leg-stripes. 

The  most  interesting  case  which  I  have  met  with  occurred  in  a 
colt  of  my  own  breeding.  A  bay  mare  (descended  from  a  dark-brown 
Flemish  mare  by  a  light  grey  Turcoman  horse)  was  put  to  Hercules, 
a  thoroughbred  dark  bay,  whose  sire  (Kingston)  and  dam  were  both 
bays.  The  colt  ultimately  turned  out  brown  ;  but  when  only  a  fort- 
night old  it  was  a  dirty  bay,  shaded  with  mouse-grey,  and  in  parts 
with  a  yellowish  tint :  it  had  only  a  trace  of  the  spinal  stripe,  with 
a  few  obscure  transverse  bars  on  the  legs ;  but  almost  the  whole 
body  was  marked  with  very  narrow  dark  stripes,  in  most  parts  so 
obscure  as  to  be  visible  only  in  certain  lights,  like  the  stripes  which 
may  be  seen  on  black  kittens.  These  stripes  were  distinct  on  the 
hind-quarters,  where  they  diverged  from  the  spine,  and  pointed  a 
little  forwards  ;  many  of  them  as  they  diverged  from  the  spine  be- 
came a  little  branched,  exactly  in  the  same  manner  as  in  some 
zebrine  species.  The  stripes  were  plainest  on  the  forehead  between 
the  ears,  where  they  formed  a  set  of  pointed  arches,  one  under  the 
other,  decreasing  in  size  downwards  towards  the  muzzle ;  exactly 
similar  marks  may  be  seen  on  the  forehead  of  the  quagga  and 
Burchell's  zebra.  When  this  foal  was  two  or  three  months  old  all 
the  stripes  entirely  disappeared.  I  have  seen  similar  marks  on  the 
forehead  of  a  fully  grown,  fallow-dun,  cob-like  horse,  having  a  con- 
spicuous spinal  stripe,  and  with  its  front  legs  well  barred. 

In  Norway  the  colour  of  the  native  horse  or  pony  is  dun,  varying 
from  almost  cream-colour  to  dark  mouse-dun  ;  and  an  animal  is  not 
considered  purely  bred  unless  it  has  the  spinal  and  leg  stripes.31  In 
one  part  of  the  country  my  son  estimated  that  about  a  third  of  the 
ponies  had  striped  legs  ;  he  counted  seven  stripes  on  the  fore-legs 
and  two  on  the  hind-legs  of  one  pony  ;  only  a  few  of  them  exhibit- 
ed traces  of  shoulder-stripes  ;  but  I  have  heard  of  a  cob  imported 
from'  Norway  which  had  the  shoulder  as  well  as  the  other  stripes 
well  developed.     Colonel  Ham.  Smith32  alludes  to  dun-horses  with 


31  I  have  received  information,  through  ponies.    See,  also,  'The  Field,'  1S61,  p. 

the  kindness  of  the  Consul-General,  Mr.  431. 

J:  R.  Crowe,  from  Prof.  Boeck,  Rasck,  and  32  Col.  Ham.  Smith,  'Nat.  Lib.,'  vol. 

Esraarck,  on  the  colours  of  the  Norwegian  xii.  p.  275. 


Cdap.il        their  colours  and  stripes.  77 

the  spinal  stripe  in  the  Sierras  of  Spain  ;  and  the  horses  originally 
derived  from  Spain,  in  some  parts  of  South  America,  are  now  duns. 
Sir  W.  Elliot  informs  me  that  he  inspected  a  herd  of  300  South 
American  horses  imported  into  Madras,  and  many  of  these  had 
transverse  stripes  on  the  legs  and  short  shoulder-stripes  ;  the  most 
strongly  marked  individual,  of  which  a  coloured  drawing  was  sent 
me,  was  a  mouse-dun,  with  the  shoulder-stripes  slightly  forked. 

In  the  North-Western  parts  of  India  striped  horses  of  more  than 
one  breed  are  apparently  commoner  than  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world  ;  and  I  have  received  information  respecting  them  from  sev- 
eral officers,  especially  from  Colonel  Poole,  Colonel  Curtis,  Major 
Campbell,  Brigadier  St.  John,  and  others.  The  Kattywar  horses 
are  often  fifteen  or  sixteen  hands  in  height,  and  are  well  but  lightly 
built.  They  are  of  all  colours,  but  the  several  kinds  of  duns  pre- 
vail ;  and  these  are  so  generally  striped,  that  ahorse  without  stripes 
is  not  considered  pure.  Colonel  Poole  believes  that  all  the  duns 
have  the  spinal  stripe,  the  leg-stripes  are  generally  present,  and  he 
thinks  that  about  half  the  horses  have  the  shoulder-stripe ;  tins 
stripe  is  sometimes  double  or  treble  on  both  shoulders.  Colonel 
Poole  has  often  seen  stripes  on  the  cheeks  and  sides  of  the  nose. 
He  has  seen  stripes  on  the  grey  and  bay  Katty  wars  when  first  foaled, 
but  they  soon  faded  away.  I  have  received  other  accounts  of  cream- 
coloured,  bay,  brown,  and  grey  Kattywar  horses  being  striped. 
Eastward  of,  India,  the  Shan  (north  of  Burmah)  ponies,  as  I  am  in- 
formed by  Mr.  Blyth,  have  spinal,  leg,  and  shoulder  stripes.  Sir 
W.  Elliot  informs  me  that  he  saw  two  bay  Pegu  ponies  with  leg- 
stripes.  Burmese  and  Javanese  ponies  are  frequently  dun-coloured, 
and  have  the  three  kinds  of  stripes,  "  in  the  same  degree  as  in  Eng- 
land." 33  Mr.  Swinhoe  informs  me  that  he  examined  two  light-dun 
ponies  of  two  Chinese  breeds,  viz.  those  of  Shanghai  and  Arnoy  ;  both 
had  the  spinal  stripe,  and  the  latter  an  indistinct  shoulder-stripe. 

We  thus  see  that  in  all  parts  of  the  world  breeds  of  the  horse  as 
different  as  possible,  when  of  a  dun-colour  (including  under  this 
term  a  wide  range  of  tint  from  cream  to  dusky  black),  and  rarely 
when  of  bay,  grey,  and  chesnut  shades,  have  the  several  above- 
specified  stripes.  Horses  which  are  of  a  yellow  colour  with  white 
mane  and  tail,  and  which  are  sometimes  called  duns,  I  have  never 
seen  with  stripes.34 

From  reasons  which  will  be  apparent  in  the  chapter  on  Reversion, 


33  Mr.  G.  Clark,  in  '  Annal  and  Mag.  of  horse  with  spinal  and  leg  stripes. 

Nat.  History, '  2nd  series,  vol.  ii.,  1848,  p.  34  See,  also,  on  this  point,  '  The  Field,' 

863.     Mr.  Wallace  informs  me  that  he  July  27th,  1SG1,  p.  91. 
saw  in  Java  a  dun   and  clay-coloured 


78  .  .  HORSES.  Chap.  II. 

I  have  endeavoured,  but  with  poor  success,  to  discover  whether  duns, 
which  are  so  much  oftener  striped  than  other  coloured  horses,  are 
ever  produced  from  the  crossing  of  two  horses,  neither  of  which  are 
duns.  Most  persons  to  whom  I  have  applied  believe  that  one  parent 
must  be  a  dun ;  and  it  is  generally  asserted,  that,  when  this  is  the 
case,  the  dun-colour  and  the  stripes  are  strongly  inherited.35  One 
case  has  fallen  under  my  own  observation  of  a  foal  from  a  black 
mare  by  a  bay  horse,  which  when  fully  grown  was  a  dark  fallow- 
dun  and  had  a  narrow  but  plain  spinal  stripe.  Hofacker 3S  gives 
two  instances  of  mouse-duns  (Mausrapp)  being  produced  from  two 
parents  of  different  colours  and  neither  dims. 

I  have  also  endeavoured  with  httle  success  to  find  out  whether 
the  stripes  are  generally  plainer  or  less  plain  in  the  foal  than  in  the 
adult  horse.  Colonel  Poole  informs  me  that,  as  he  believes, '"  the 
stripes  are  plainest  when  the  colt  is  first  foaled ;  they  then  become 
less  and  less  distinct  till  after  the  first  coat  is  shed,  when  they  come 
out  as  strongly  as  before  ;  but  certainly  often  fade  away  as  the  age 
of  the  horse  increases."  Two  other  accounts  confirm  this  fading  of 
the  stripes  in  old  horses  in  India.  One  writer,  on  the  other  hand, 
states  that  colts  are  often  born  without  stripes,  but  that  they  appear 
as  the  colt  grows  older.  Three  authorities  affirm  that  in  Norway 
the  stripes  are  less  plain  in  the  foal  than  in  the  adult.  Perhaps 
there  is  no  fixed  rule.  In  the  case  described  by  me  of  the  young  foal 
which  was  narrowly  striped  over  nearly  all  its  body,  there  was  no 
doubt  about  the  early  and  complete  disappearance  of  the  stripes. 
Mr.  W.  W.  Edwards  examined  for  me  twenty-two  foals  of  race- 
horses, and  twelve  had»the  spinal  stripe  more  or  less  plain  ;  this 
fact,  and  some  other  accounts  which  I  have  received,  lead  me  to 
believe  that  the  spinal  stripe  often  disappears  in  the  English  race- 
horse when  old.  On  the  whole  I  infer  that  the  stripes  are  generally 
plainest  in  the  foal,  and  tend  to  disappear  in  old  age. 

The  stripes  are  variable  in  colour,  but  are  always  dark- 
er than  the  rest  of  the  body.  They  do  not  by  any  means 
always  coexist  on  the  different  parts  of  the  body:  the 
legs  may  be  striped  without  any  shoulder-stripe,  or  the 
converse  case,  which  is  rarer,  may  occur;  but  I  have 
never  heard  of  either  shonlder  or  leg-stripes  without  the 
spinal  stripe.  The  latter  is  by  far  the  commonest  of  all 
the  stripes,  as  might  have  been  expected,  as  it  character- 


's 'The  Field,'  1861,  pp.  431,  493,  645. 

3«  '  Ueber  die  Eigenschaften,'  &c,  1828,  s.  13, 14. 


Chap.  II.  THEIR    COLOURS    AND    STRIPES.  79 

ises  the  other  seven  or  eight  species  of  the  genus.  It  is 
remarkable  that  so  trifling  a  character  as  the  shoulder- 
stripe  being  double  or  triple  should  occur  in  such  different 
breeds  as  Welch  and  Devonshire  ponies,  the  Shan  pony, 
heavy  cart-horses,  light  South  American  horses,  and  the 
lanky  Kattywar  breed.  Colonel  Hamilton  Smith  be- 
lieves that  one  of  his  five  supposed  primitive  stocks  was 
dun-coloured  and  striped ;  and  that  the  stripes  in  all  the 
other  breeds  result  from  ancient  crosses  with  this  one 
primitive  dun ;  but  it  is  extremely  improbable  that  differ- 
ent breeds  living  in  such  distant  quarters  of  the  world 
should  all  have  been  crossed  with  any  one  aboriginally 
distinct  stock.  Nor  have  we  any  reason  to  believe  that 
the  effects  of  a  cross  at  a  very  remote  period  could  be 
propagated  for  so  many  generations  as  is  implied  on  this 
view. 

"With  respect  to  the  primitive  colour  of  the  horse  hav- 
ing been  dun,  Colonel  Hamilton  Smith 3T  has  collected  a 
large  body  of  evidence  showing  that  this  tint  was  com- 
mon in  the  East  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Alexander, 
and  that  the  wild  horses  of  Western  Asia  and  Eastern 
Europe  now  are,  or*  recently  were,  of  various  shades  of 
dun.  It  seems  that  not  very  long  ago  a  wild  breed  of 
dun-coloured  horses  with  a  spinal  stripe  was  preserved  in 
the  royal  parks  in  Prussia.  I  hear  from  Hungary  that 
the  inhabitants  of  that  country  look  at  the  duns  with  a 
spinal  stripe  as  the  aboriginal  stock,  and  so  it  is  in  Nor- 
way. Dun-coloured  ponies  are  not  rare  in  the  mountain- 
ous parts  of  Devonshire,  Wales,  and  Scotland,  where  the 
aboriginal  breed  would  have  had  the  best  chance  of  being 
preserved.  In  South  America  in  the  time  of  Azara,  when 
the  horse  had  been  feral  for  about  250  years,  90  out  of 


37  '  Naturalist's    Library,'    vol.    xii.  in  ancient  times.     See  also  Pallas's  ac- 

(1841),   pp.   109,  156  to  163,  280,  281.  count  of  the  wild  horses  of  the  East,  who 

Cream-colour,  passing  into  Isabella  {i.e.  speaks  of  dun  and  brown  as  the  preva- 

the  colour  of  the  dirty  linen  of  Queen  lent  colours. 
Isabella),  seems  to  have  been  common 


80  HORSES.  Chap.  II. 

100  horses  were." bai-chatains,"  and  the  remaining  ten 
were  "  zains,"  and  not  more  than  one  in  2000  black.  Zain 
is  generally  translated  as  dark  without  any  white ;  but 
as  Azara  speaks  of  mules  being  "  zain-clair,"  I  suspect 
that  zain  must  have  meant  dun-coloured.  In  some  parts 
of  the  world  feral  horses  show  a  strong  tendency  to  be- 
come roans.38 

In  the  following  chapters  on  the  Pigeon  we  shall  see 
that  in  pure  breeds  of  various  colours,  when  a  blue  bird 
is  occasionally  produced,  certain  black  marks  invariably 
appear  on  the  wings  and  tail ;  so  again,  when  variously 
coloured  breeds  are  crossed,  blue  birds  with  the  same 
black  marks  are  frequently  produced.  We  shall  further 
see  that  these  facts  are  explained  by,  and  afford  strong 
evidence  in  favour  of,  the  view  that  all  the  breeds  are 
descended  from  the  rock-pigeon,  or  Columba  Mvia,  which 
is  thus  coloured  and  marked.  But  the  appearance  of  the 
stripes  on  the  various  breeds  of  the  horse,  when  of  a  dun- 
colour,  does  not  afford  nearly  such  good  evidence  of  their 
descent  from  a  single  primitive  stock  as  in  the  case  of 
the  pigeon ;  because  no  certainly  wild  horse  is  known  as 
a  standard  of  comparison ;  because  trhe  stripes  when  they 
do  appear  are  variable  in  character ;  because  there  is  far 
from  sufficient  evidence  of  the  appearance  of  the  stripes 
from  the  crossing  of  distinct  breeds  ;  and  lastly,  because 
all  the  species  of  the  genus  Equus  have  the  spinal  stripe, 
and  several  have  shoulder  and  leg  stripes.  Nevertheless 
the. similarity  in  the  most  distinct  breeds  in  their  general 
range  of  colour,  in  their  dappling,  and  in  the  occasional 


38  Azara, '  Quadrupedes  du  Paraguay,*  describes  two  wild  horses  from  Mexico 

torn.  ii.  p.  307 ;  for  the  colour  of  mules,  as  roan.    In  the  Falkland  Islands,  where 

see  p.  350.    In  North  America,  Catlin,  the  horse  has  been  feral  only  between  60 

(vol.  ii.  p.  57)  describes  the  wild  horses,  and  70  years,  I  was  told  that  roans  and 

believed  to   have   descended  from   the  iron-greys  were  the  prevalent  colours. 

Spanish  horses  of  Mexico,  as  of  all  col-  These  several  facts  show  that  horses  do 

ours,  black,  grey,  roan,  and  roan  pied  not   generally   revert   to    any  uniform 

with  sorrel.     F.  Michaux  ('Travels  in  colour. 
North  America,'  Eng    translat.,  p.  235) 


Chap.  II.  ASSES.  81 

appearance,  especially  in  duns,  of  leg-stripes  and  of  double 
or  triple  shoulder-stripes,  taken  together,  indicate  the 
probability  of  the  descent  of  all  the  existing  races  from  a 
single,  dun-coloured,  more  or  less  striped,  primitive  stock, 
to  which  our  horses  still  occasionally  revert. 

The  Ass. 

Four  species  of  Asses,  besides  three  of  zebras,  have  been 
desci-ibed  by  naturalists ;  but  there  can  now  be  little 
doubt  that  our  domesticated  animal  is  descended  from 
one  alone,  namely,  the  As inns  tee niopas  of  Abyssinia.3* 
The  Ass  is  sometimes  advanced  as  an  instance  of  an  ani- 
mal domesticated,  as  we  know  by  the  Old  Testament,  from* 
an  ancient  period,  which  has  varied  only  in  a  very  slight 
degree.  But  this  is  by  no  means  strictly  true  ;  for  in 
Syria  alone  there  are  four  breeds;40  fh-st,  a  light  and 
graceful  animal,  with  an  agreeable  gait,  used  by  ladies  ; 
secondly,  an  Arab  breed  reserved  exclusively  for  the  sad- 
dle ;  thirdly,  a  stouter  animal  used  for  ploughing  and  va- 
rious purposes ;  and  lastly,  the  lai'ge  Damascus  breed, 
with  a  peculiarly  long  body  and  ears.  In  this  country,  and 
generally  in  Central  Europe,  though  the  ass  is  by  no 
means  uniform  in  appearance,  it  has  not  given  rise  to  dis- 
tinct breeds  like  those  of  the  horse.  This  may  probably 
be  accounted  for  by  the  animal  being  kept  chiefly  by  poor 
persons,who  do  not  rear  large  numbers,  nor  carefully  match 
and  select  the  young.  For,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  future 
chapter,  the  ass  can  with  ease  be  greatly  improved  in  size 
and  strength  by  careful  selection,  combined  no  doubt 
with  good  food ;  and  we  may  infer  that  all  its  other  cha- 
racters would  be  equally  amenable  to  selection.  The 
small  size  of  the  ass  in  England  and  Northern  Europe  is 
apparently  due  far  more  to  want  of  care  in  breeding  than 


•»  Dr.  Sclater,  in  '  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,'  40  W.    C.    Martin,    'History    of    the 

1862,  p.  164.  Horse,'  1S45,  p.  207. 


82  ASSES.         •  Chap.  II. 

to  cold ;  for  in  Western  India,  where  the  ass  is  used  as  a 
beast  of  burden  by  some  of  the  lower  castes,  it  is  not 
much  larger  than  a  Newfoundland  dog,  "  being  generally 
not  more  than  from  twenty  to  thirty  inches  high."41 

The  ass  varies  greatly  in  colour  ;  and  its  legs,  especially 
the  fore-legs,  both  in  England  and  other  countries — for 
instance,  in  China — are  occasionally  barred  transversely 
more  plainly  than  those  of  dun-coloured  horses.  With 
the  horse  the  occasional  appearance  of  leg-stripes  was  ac- 
counted for,  through  the  principle  of  reversion,  by  the 
supposition  that  the  primitive  horse  was  thus  striped  ; 
with  the  ass  we  may  confidently  advance  this  explanation, 
for  the  parent-form,  the  A.  tazniopus,  is  known  to  be 
'barred,  though  only  in  a  slight  degree,  across  the  legs. 
The  stripes  are  believed  to  occur  most  frequently  and  to 
be  plainest  on  the  legs  of  the  domestic  ass  during  early 
youth,42  as  is  apparently  likewise  the  case  with  the  horse. 
The  shoulder-stripe,  which  is  so  eminently  characteristic 
of  the  species,  is  nevertheless  variable  in  breadth,  length, 
and  manner  of  termination.  I  have  measured  a  shoulder- 
stripe  four  times  as  broad  as  another ;  and  some  more  than 
twice  as  long  as  others.  In  one  light-grey  ass  the  shoul- 
der-stripe was  only  six  inches  in  length,  and  as  thin  as  a 
piece  of  string;  and  in  other  animal  of  the  same  colour 
there  was  only  a  dusky  shade  representing  a  stripe.  I 
have  heai'd  of  three  white  asses,  not  albinoes,  with  no 
trace  of  shoulder  or  spinal  stripes  ;43  and  I  have  seen  nine 
other  asses  with  no  shoulder-stripe,  and  some  of  them 
had  no  spinal  stripe.  Three  of  the  nine  were  light-greys, 
one  a  dark-grey,  another  grey  passing  into  reddish-roan, 
and  the  others  were  brown,  two  being  tinted  on  parts  of 
their  bodies  with  a  reddish  or  ba^-shade.     Hence  we  may 


41  Col.    Sykes'     Cat.    of    Mammalia,  Nat  Hist.,'  vol.  iv.,  1840,  p.  88.,  I  have 

'  Proc.    Zoolog.   Soc.,'  July  12th,  1S31.  also  been  assured  by  a  breeder  that  this 

Williamson,  '  Oriental  Field  Sports,'  vol,  is  the  case, 

ii.,  quoted  by  Martin,  p.  206.  43  One  case  is  given  by  Martin,  '  The 

43  Blyth,   in  '  Charlesworth's  Mag.  of  Horse,'  p.  205. 


Chap.  II.  THEIR    COLOURS    AND    STRIPES.  83 

conclude  that,  if  grey  and  reddish-brown  asses  had  been 
steadily  selected  and  bred  from,  the  shoulder-stripe  would 
have  been  almost  as  generally  and  as  completely  lost  as 
in  the  case  of  the  horse. 

The  shoulder-stripe  on  the  ass  is  sometimes  double,  and 
Mr.  Blyth  has  seen  even  three  or  four  parallel  stripes.44 
I  have  observed  in  ten  cases  shoulder-stripes  abruptly 
truncated  at  the  lower  end,  with  the  anterior  angle  pro- 
duced into  a  tapering  point,  precisely  as  has  been  figured 
in  the  dun  Devonshire  pony.  I  have  seen  three  cases  of 
the  terminal  portion  abruptly  and  angularly  bent ;  and 
two  cases  of  a  distinct  though  slight  forking.  In  Syria, 
Dr.  Hooker  and  his  party  observed  for  me  no  less  than 
five  instances  of  the  shoulder-stripe  being  plainly  forked 
over  the  fore  leg.  In  the  common  mule  it  is  likewise 
sometimes  forked.  "When  I  first  noticed  the  forking  and 
angular  bending  of  the  shoulder-stripe,  I  had  seen  enough 
of  the  stripes  in  the  various  equine  species  to  feel  con- 
vinced that  even  a  character  so  unimportant  as  this  had 
a  distinct  meaning,  and  was  thus  led  to  attend  to  the 
subject.  I  now  find  that  in  the  Asinns  Burchellii  and 
quagga,  the  stripe  which  corresponds  with  the  shoulder- 
stripe  of  the  ass,  as  well  as  some  of  the  stripes  on  the 
neck,  bifurcate,  and  that  some  of  those  near  the  shoulder 
have  their  extremities  angularly  bent  backwards.  The 
forking  and  angular  bending  of  the  stripes  on  the  shoul- ' 
ders  apparently  stand  in  relation  with  the  changed  direc- 
tion of  the  nearly  upright  stripes  on  the  sides  of  the  body 
and  neck  to  the  transverse  bars  on  the  legs.  Finally  we 
see  that  the  presence  of  shoulder,  leg,  and  spinal  stripes 
in  the  horse, — their  occasional  absence  in  the  ass, — the  oc- 
currence of  double  and  triple  shoulder-stripes  in  both  ani- 
mals, and  the  similar  manner  in  which  these  stripes  termi- 
nate at  their  lower  extremities, — are  all  cases  of  analogous 


44  '  Journal  As.  Soc.  of  Bengal,'  vol.  xxviii.  1860,  p.  231.    Martin  on  the  Horse, 
p.  205. 


84  ASSES.  Chap.  IL 

variation  in  the  horse  and  ass.  These  cases  are  probably 
not  due  to  similar  conditions  acting  on  similar  constitu- 
tions, hut  to  a  partial  reversion  in  colour  to  the  common 
progenitor  of  these  two  species,  as  well  as  of  the  other 
species  of  the  genus.  We  shall  hereafter  have  to  return 
to  this  subject,  and  discuss  it  more  fully. 


Chap.  III.  DOMESTIC    TIGS.  85 


CHAPTER  III. 

PIGS  —  CATTLE  —  SHEEP  —  GOATS. 

PIGS  BELONG  TO  TWO  DISTINCT  TYPES,   SUS  SCROFA  AND   INDICA 

—  TORF-SCHWELN —  JAPAN    PIG  —  FERTILITY   OF    CROSSED    PIGS 

—  CHANGES  IN  THE  SKULL  OF  THE  HIGHLY  CULTIVATED  RACES 

—  CONVERGENCE  OF  CHARACTER  —  GESTATION  —  SOLID-HOOFED 
S"WTNE  —  CURIOUS  APPENDAGES  TO  THE  JAWS  —  DECREASE  IN 
SIZE  OF  THE  TUSKS  —  YOUNG  PIGS  LONGITUDINALLY  STRIPED  — 

—  FERAL  PIGS  —  CROSSED  BREEDS. 

CATTLE.  —  ZEBU  A  DISTINCT  SPECIES  —  EUROPEAN  CATTLE  PRO- 
BABLY DESCENDED  FROM  THREE  WILD  FORMS  —  ALL  THE  RACES 
NOW  FERTILE  TOGETHER — BRITISH  PARK  CATTLE  —  ON  THE  CO- 
LOUR OF  THE  ABORIGINAL  SPECIES  —  CONSTITUTIONAL  DIFFER- 
ENCES—  SOUTH  AFRICAN  RACES  —  SOUTH  AMERICAN  RACES  — 
NIATA  CATTLE  —  ORIGIN  OF  THE  VARIOUS  RACES  OF  CATTLE. 

SHEEP.  —  REMARKABLE  RACES  OF  —  VARIATIONS  ATTACHED  TO 
THE  MALE  SEX  —  ADAPTATIONS  TO  VARIOUS  CONDITIONS  —  GES- 
TATION OF  —  CHANGES  IN  THE  WOOL  —  SEMI-MONSTROUS  BREEDS. 

GOATS.  —  REMARKABLE  VARIATIONS  OF. 

The  breeds  of  the  pig  have  recently  been  more  closely 
studied,  though  much  still  remains  to  be  done,  than 
those  of  almost  any  other  domesticated  animal.  This 
has  been  effected  by  Hermann  von  Nathusius  in  two 
admirable  works,  especially  in  the  later  one  on  the  Skulls 
of  the  several  races,  and  by  Riitimeyer  in  his  celebrated 
Fauna  of  the  ancient  Swiss  lake-dwellings.1  Nathusius 
has  shown  that  all  the  known  breeds  may  be  divided  in 
two  great  groups :  one  resembling  in  all  important  re- 


1  Hermann  von  Nathusius, '  Die  Racen        schadel,' Berlin,  1864.     Riitimeyer,  '  Die 
des  Schweines,  'Berlin,  I860;  and  lVor-        Fauna  der  Pfahlbauten,'  Basel,  1S61. 
etudien  fur  Geschichte,'  &c,  '  Schweine- 


86  DOMESTIC    PIGS.  Chap.  III. 

spects  and  no  doubt  descended  from  the  common  wild 
boar ;  so  that  this  may  be  called  the  Sus  scrofa  group^. 
The  other  group  differs  in  several  important  and  con- 
stant osteological  characters ;  its  wild  parent-form  iS 
unknown;  the  name  given  to  it  by  Nathusius,  accord- 
ing to  the  law  of  priority,  is  Sus  Indica  of  Pallas.  This 
name  must  now  be  followed,  though  an  unfortunate  one, 
as  the  wild  aboriginal  does  not  inhabit  India,  and  the  best- 
known  domesticated  breeds  have  been  imported  from  Siam 
and  China. 

Firstly,  the  Sus  scrofa  breeds,  or  those  resembling  the 
common  wild  boar.  These  still  exist,  according  to  N"a- 
thusius  (Schweineschadel,  s.  75),  in  various  parts  of  cen- 
tral and  northern  Europe  ;  formerly  every  kingdom,2  and 
almost  every  province  in  Britain,  possessed  its  own  na- 
tive breed ;  but  these  are  now  everywhere  rapidly  disap- 
pearing, being  replaced  by  improved  breeds  crossed  with 
the  S.  Indica  form.  The  skull  in  the  breeds  of  the  S' 
scrofa  type  resembles,  in  all  important  respects,  that  of 
the  European  wild  boar;  but  it  has  become  (Schweine- 
schadel, s.  63-68)  higher  and  broader  relatively  to  its 
length;  and  the  hinder  part  is  more  upright.  The  dif- 
ferences, however,  are  all  variable  in  degree.  The  breeds 
which  thus  resemble  S.  scrofa  in  their  essential  skull- 
characters  differ  conspicuously  from  each  other  in  other 
respects,  as  in  the  length  of  the  ears  and  legs,  curvature 
of  the  ribs,  colour,  hairiness,  size  and  proportions  of  the 
body. 

The  wild  Sus  scrofa  has  a  wide  range,  namely,  Europe, 
North  Africa,  as  identified  by  osteological  characters  by 
Rutimeyer,  and  Hindostan,  as  similarly  identified  by  Na- 
thusius.  But  the  wild  boars  inhabiting  these  several  coun- 
tries differ  so  much  from  each  other  in  external  characters, 
that  they  have  been  ranked  by  some  naturalists  as  speci- 


2Natbusius,'DieRacendesSchweines,'        trustworthy  drawings  of  the  breeds  of 
Berlin,  1S60.     An  excellent  appendix  is        each  country, 
given  with  references  to  published  and 


Chap.  hi.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  87 

fically  distinct.  Even  within  Hindostan  these  animals, 
according  to  Mr.  Blyth,  form  very  distinct  races  in  the 
different  districts ;  in  the  N.  Western  provinces,  as  I  am 
informed  by  the  Rev.  R.  Everest,  the  boar  never  exceeds 
36  inches  in  height,  whilst  in  Bengal  one  has  been  mea- 
sured 44  inches  in  height.  In  Europe,  Northern  Africa, 
and  Hindostan,  domestic  pigs  have  been  known  to  cross 
with  the  wild  native  species ; 3  and  in  Hindostan  an  ac- 
curate observer,4  Sir  Walter  Elliot,  after  describing  the 
differences  between  wild  Indian  and  wild  German  boars, 
remarks  that  "  the  same  differences  are  perceptible  in  the 
domesticated  individuals  of  the  two  countries."  We  may 
therefore  conclude  that  the  breeds  of  the  Sus  scrofa  type 
have  either  descended  from,  or  been  modified  by  cross- 
ing with,  forms  which  may  be  ranked  as  geographical 
races,  but  which  are,  according  to  some  naturalists,  dis- 
tinct species. 

Pigs  of  the  Sus  Indica  type  are  best  known  to  Eng- 
lishmen under  the  form  of  the  Chinese  breed.  The  skull 
of  S.  Indica,  as  described  by  Nathusius,  differs  from  that 
of  S.  scrofa  in  several  minor  respects,  as  in  its  greater 
breadth  and  in  some  details  in  the  teeth ;  but  chiefly  in 
the  shortness  of  the  lachrymal  bones,  in  the  greater  width 
of  the  fore  part  of  the  palate-bones,  and  in  the  divergence 
of  the  premolar  teeth.  It  deserves  especial  notice  that 
these  latter  characters  are  not  gained,  even  in  the  least 
degree,  by  the  domesticated  forms  of  S.  scrofa.  After 
reading  the  remarks  and  descriptions  given  by  N.athu- 
sius,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  merely  playing  with  words  to 
doubt  whether  S.  Indica  ought  to  be  ranked  as  a  spe- 
cies ;  for  the  above-specified  differences  are  more  strongly 


3  For  Europe,  see  Becbstein,  '  Natur-  de  la  Soc.  d'Acclimat.,'  torn.  iv.  p.  8S9. 

gesch.  Deutschlands,'  1801,  b.  i.,  8.  505.  For   India,  see    Nathusius,   '  Schweine- 

Several  accounts  have  been   published  schadel,'  s.  148. 

on  the  fertility  of   the  offspring   from  4  Sir  W.  Elliot,  Catalogue  of  Mamma- 
wild  and    tame  swine.    See   Burdach's  lia,   '  Madras  Journal  of  Lit.   and  Sci- 
'  Physiology,'    and    Godron,    '  De    l'Es-  ence,'  vol.  x.  p.  219. 
pece,'  torn.  i.  p.  3T0.    For  Africa,  '  Bull. 


88  DOMESTIC    PIGS.  Chap.  III. 

marked  than  any  that  can  be  pointed  out  between,  for 
instance,  the  fox  and  the  wolf,  or  the  ass  and  the  horse. 
As  already  stated,  S.  Inclica  is  not  known  in  a  wild  state ; 
but  its  domesticated  forms,  according  to  Nathusius,  come 
near  to  S.  vittatus  of  Java  and  some  allied  species.  A 
pig  found  wild  in  the  Aru  islands  (Schweineschadel,  s. 
169)  is  apparently  identical  with  S.  Inclica;  but  it  is 
doubtful  whether  this  is  a  truly  native  animal.  The  do- 
mesticated breeds  of  China,  Cochin-China,  and  Siam  be- 
long to  this  type.  The  Roman  or  Neapolitan  breed,  the 
Andalusian,  the  Hungarian,  and  the  "  Krause  "  swine  of 
Nathusius,  inhabiting  south-eastern  Europe  and  Turkey, 
and  having  fine  curly  hair,  and  the  small  Swiss  "  Biindt- 
nerschwein  "  of  Riitimeyer,  all  agree  in  their  more  impor- 
tant skull  characters  with  S.  Indica,  and,  as  is  supposed, 
have  all  been  largely  crossed  with  this  form.  Pigs  of 
this  type  have  existed  during  a  long  period  on  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean,  for  a  figure  (Schweineschadel,  s. 
142)  closely  resembling  the  existing  Neapolitan  pig  has 
been  found  in  the  buried  city  of  Herculaneum. 

Riitimeyer  has  made  the  remarkable  discovery  that 
there  lived  contemporaneously  in  Switzerland,  during  the 
later  Stone  or  Neolithic  period,  two  domesticated  forms, 
the  S.  scrofa,  and  the  S.  scrofa  palustris  or  Torfschwein. 
Riitimeyer  perceived  that  the  latter  approached  the  East- 
ern breeds,  and,  according  to  Nathusius,  it  certainly  be- 
longs to  the  S.  Indica  group ;  but  Riitimeyer  has  subse- 
quently shown  that  it  differs  in  some  well-marked  cha- 
racters. This  author  was  formerly  convinced  that  his 
Torfschwein  existed  as  a  wild  animal  during  the  first 
part  of  the  Stone  period,  and  was  domesticated  during 
a  later  part  of  the  same  period.6  Nathusius,  whilst  he 
fully  admits  the  curious  fact  first  observed  by  Riiti- 
meyer, that  the  bones  of  domesticated  and  wild  animals 
can  be  distinguished  by  their  different  aspect,  yet,  from 


6  '  Pfahlbauten,'  s.  163  et  passim. 


Chap.  III.  TIIEIR    PARENTAGE.  89 

special  difficulties  in  the  case  of  the  bones  of  the  pig 
(Schweineschadel,  s.  147),  is  not  convinced  of  the  truth 
of  this  conclusion ;  and  Riitimeyer  himself  seems  now  to 
feel  some  doubt.  As  the  Torfschwein  was  domesticated 
•at  so  early  a  period,  and  as  its  remains  have  been  found 
in  several  parts  of  Europe,  belonging  to  various  historic 
and  prehistoric  ages,8  and  as  closely  allied  forms  still 
exist  in  Hungary  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, one  is  led  to  suspect  that  the  wild  S.  Indica  for- 
merly ranged  from  Europe  to  China,  in  the  same  manner 
as  S.  scrofa  now  ranges  from  Europe  to  Hindostan.  Or, 
as  Riitimeyer  apparently  suspects,  a  third  allied  species 
may  fonnerly  have  lived  in  Europe  and  Eastern  Asia. 

Several  breeds,  differing  in  the  proportions  of  the  body, 
in  the  length  of  the  ears,  in  the  nature  of  the  hair,  in  co- 
lour, &c,  come  under  the  S.  Indica  type.  IsTor  is  this 
surprising,  considering  how  ancient  the  domestication 
of  this  form  has  been  both  in  Europe  and  in  China.  In 
this  latter  country  the  date  is  believed  by  an  eminent 
Chinese  scholar7  to  go  back  at  least  4900  years  from  the 
present  time.  This  same  scholar  alludes  to  the  existence 
of  many  local  varieties  of  the  pig  in  China ;  and  at  the 
present  time  the  Chinese  take  extraordinary  pains  in  feed- 
ing and  tending  their  pigs,  not  even  allowing  them  to 
walk  from  place  to  place.8  Hence  the  Chinese  breed,  as 
Nathusius  has  remarked,9  displays  in  an  eminent  degree 
the  characters  of  a  highly-cultivated  race,  and  hence,  no 
doubt,  its  high  value  in  the  improvement  of  our  Euro- 
pean breeds.  Nathusius  makes  a  remarkable  statement 
(Schweineschadel,  s.  138),  that  the  infusion  of  the  ^nd, 
or  even  of  the  ^th,  part  of  the  blood  of  S.  Indica  into  a 
breed  of  S.  scrofa,  is  sufficient  plainly  to  modify  the  skull 
of  the  latter  species.     This  singular  fact  may  perhaps  be 


'See  Rutimeyer's  Neue  Beitrage, ....  Tille,  '  Osteograpbie,  p.  1C3. 
Torfschweine,  Yerta.  Naturfor.  Gesell.  in  8  Richardson,  '  Pigs,  their  Origin,'  Ac, 

Basel,  iv.  i.,  1865,  s.  139.  p.  26. 

1  Stan.   Julien,   quoted  by  De  Blain-  9  '  Die  Racen  des  Schweines,'  s.  47,  64. 


90 


DOMESTIC    PIGS. 


Chap.  IIL 


accounted  for  by  several  of  the  chief  distinctive  charac- 
ters of  S.  Jndica,  such  as  the  shortness  of  the  lachrymal 
bones,  etc.,  being  common  to  several  of  the  species  of  the 
genus ;  for  in  crosses  the  characters  which  are  common 
to  many  species  apparently  tend  to  be  prepotent  over 
those  appertaining  to  only  a  few  species. 

The  Japan  pig  (S.  pliciceps  of  Gray),  which  has  been 
recently  exhibited  in  the  Zoological  Gardens,  has  an  ex- 
traordinary appearance  from  its  short  head,  broad  fore- 
and  nose,  great  fleshy  ears,  and  deejjly  furrowed  skin. 
The  following  woodcut  is  copied  from  that  given  by  Mr. 


Fig.  2. — Head  of  Japan  or  Masked  Pig.    (Copied  from  Mr.  Bartlett's  paper  in  Proc. 
Zoolog.  Soc,  1S61,  p.  263.) 

Bartlett.10     Not  only  is  the  face  furrowed,  but  thick  folds 


10  'Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,'  1861,  p.  263. 


Chap.  III.  THEIR    VARIATION.  91 

of  skin,  which  are  harder  than  the  other  parts,  almost 
like  the  plates  on  the  Indian  rhinoceros,  hang  about  the 
shoulders  and  rump.  It  is  coloured  black,  with  white 
feet,  and  breeds  true.  That  it  has  long  been  domesticated 
there  can  be  little  doubt ;  and  this  might  have  been  in- 
ferred even  from  the  fact  that  its  young  are  not  longitu- 
dinally striped  ;  for  this  is  a  character  common  to  all  the 
species  included  within  the  genus  Sus  and  the  allied  gen- 
era whilst  in  their  natural  state.11  Dr.  Gray12  has  de- 
scribed the  skull  of  this  animal,  which  he  ranks  not  only 
as  a  distinct  species,  but  places  it  in  a  distinct  section  of 
the  genus.  Xathusius,  however,  after  his  careful  study 
of  the  whole  group,  states  positively  (Schweineschadel,  s. 
153-1 5  S)  that  the  skull  in  all  essential  characters  closely 
resembles  that  of  the  short-eared  Chinese  breed  of  the  S. 
Indica  type.  Hence  Nathusius  considers  the  Japan  pig 
as  only  a  domesticated  variety  of  8.  Indica :  if  this  really 
be  the  case,  it  is  a  wonderful  instance  of  the  amount  of 
modification  which  can  be  effected  under  domestication. 

Formerly  there  existed  in  the  central  islands  of  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean  a  singular  breed  of  pigs.  These  are  described 
by  the  Rev.  D.  Tyerman  and  G.  Bennett 13  as  of  small  size, 
hump-backed,  with  a  disproportionately  long  head,  with 
short  ears  turned  backwards,  with  a  bushy  tail  not  more 
than  two  inches  in  length,  placed  as  if  it  grew  from  the 
back.  "Within  half  a  century  after  the  introduction  into 
these  islands  of  European  and  Chinese  pigs,  the  native 
breed,  according  to  the  above  authors  became  almost 
completely  lost  by  being  repeatedly  crossed  with  them. 
Secluded  islands,  as  might  have  been  expected,  seem  fa- 
vourable for  the  production  or  retention  of  peculiar  breeds ; 
thus,  in  the  Orkney  Islands,  the  hogs  have  been  described 
as  very  small,  with  erect  and  sharp  ears,  and  "  with  an 


11  Sclater,  in  '  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,' Feb.  1S   'Journal  of  Voyages  and  Travels 

20th,  1861.  from  1S21  to  1S29,'  vol.  i.  p.  300. 

14  '  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soe.,'  1S62,  p.  13. 


92  DOMESTIC    PIGS.  Chap.  III. 

appearance  altogether  different  from  the  hogs  brought 
from  the  south."  14 

Seeing  how  different  the  Chinese  pigs  belonging  to  the 
Siis  Indica  type,  are  in  their  osteological  characters  and 
in  external  appearance  from  the  pigs  of  the  S.  scrofa  type, 
so  that  they  must  be  considered  specifically  distinct,  it 
is  a  fact  well  deserving  attention,  that  Chinese  and  com- 
mon pigs  have  been  repeatedly  crossed  in  various  manners, 
with  unimpaired  fertility.  One  great  breeder  who  had 
used  pure  Chinese  pigs  assured  me  that  the  fertility  of  the 
half-breeds  inter  se  and  of  their  recrossed  progeny  was 
actually  increased ;  and  this  is  the  general  belief  of  agri- 
culturists. Again,  the  Japan  pig  or  S.  pliciceps  of  Gray 
is  so  distinct  in  appearance  from  all  common  pigs,  that  it 
stretches  one's  belief  to  the  utmost  to  admit  that  it  is 
simply  a  domestic  variety ;  yet  this  breed  has  been  found 
perfectly  fertile  with  the  Berkshire  breed  ;  and  Mr.  Eyton 
informs  me  that  he  paired  a  half-bred  brother  and  sister 
and  found  them  quite  fertile  together. 

The  modifications  of  the  skull  in  the  most  highly  cul- 
tivated races  are  wonderful.  To  appreciate  the  amount 
of  change,  Nathusius'  work,  with  its  excellent  figures, 
should  be  studied.  The  whole  of  the  exterior  of  the  skull 
in  all  its  parts  has  been  altered ;  the  hinder  surface,  in- 
stead of  sloping  backwards,  is  directed  forwards,  entail- 
ing many  changes  in  other  parts ;  the  front  of  the  head 
is  deeply  concave ;  the  orbits  have  a  different  shape;  the 
auditory  meatus  has  a  different  direction  and  shape  ;  the 
incisors  of  the  upper  and  lower  jaws  do  not  touch  each 
other,  and  they  stand  in  both  jaws  above  the  plane  of  the 
molars ;  the  canines  of  the  upper  jaw  stand  in  front  of 
those  of  the  lower  jaw,  and  this  is  a  remarkable  anomaly: 
the  articular  surfaces  of  the  occipital  condyles  are  so 
greatly  changed  in  shap'e,  that,  as  Nathusius  remarks  (s. 


14  Rev.  G.  Low,  '  Fauna  Orcadensis,'  p.  10.     See  also  Dr.  Hibbert's 'account  of  the 
pig  of  the  Shetland  Islands. 


Chap.  III. 


THEIR    VARIATION. 


93 


133),  no  natflralist,  seeing  this  important  part  of  the  skull 
by  itself,  would  suppose  that  it  belonged  to  the  genus 
Sus.    These  and  various  other  modifications,  as  Nathusius 

observes,  can  hardly 
be  considered  as 
monstrosities,  for 
they  are  not  injuri- 
ous, and  are  strictly 
inherited.  The 
■whole  head  is  much 
shortened  ;  thus, 
whilst  in  common 
breeds  its  length  to 
that  of  the  body  is 
as  1  to  6,  in  the 
"  cultur-races  "  the 
proportion  is  as  1  to 
9,  and  even  recently 
asl  toll.15  The  fol- 
lowing woodcut 16  of 
the  head  of  a  wild 
boar  and  of  a  sow 
from  a  photograph 
of  the  Yorkshire 
Large  Breed,  may 
aid  in  showing  how 
greatly  the  head  in 
a  highly  cultivated 
race  has  been  modi- 
fied and  shortened. 
Nathusius      has 

Head  of  Wi.d  Boar,  and  of  "Golden  Days,"  Well     disCUSSed     the 

a  pig  of  the  Yorkshire  Large  Breed  ;   the  latter  causes     of      the      l*e- 

from  a  photograph.     (Copied  from  Sidney's  edit,  i     1  1„         changes 

of  '  The  Pig,'  by  Vouatt.)  mal  ka0le        cuau0e& 


Fig.  3 


15  '  Bie  Racen  des  Schweines,'  s.  TO. 
18  These  woodcuts  are  copied  from  en- 
gravings given  in  Mr.  S.  Sidney's  excel- 


lent edition  of '  The  Pig,'  by  Youatt.  See 
pp.  1, 16, 19. 


94  DOMESTIC    PIGS.  Chap.  IIL 

in  the  skull  and  shape  of  the  body  which  the  highly  cul- 
tivated races  have  undergone.  These  modifications  oc- 
cur chiefly  in  the  pure  and  crossed  races  of  the  S.  Indica 
type ;  but  their  commencement  may  be  clearly  detected 
in  the  slightly  improved  breeds  of  the  &  scrofa  type.17 
Nathusius  states  positively  (s.  99,  103),  as  the  result  of 
common  experience  and  of  his  experiments,  that  rich  and 
abundant  food,  given  during  youth,  tends  by  some  direct 
action  to  make  the  head  broader  and  shorter ;  and  that 
poor  food  works  a  contrary  result.  He  lays  much  stress 
on  the  fact  that  all  wild  and  semi-domesticated  pigs, 
in  ploughing  up  the  ground  with  their  muzzles,  have, 
whilst  young,  to  exert  the  powerful  muscles  fixed  to 
the  hinder  part  of  the  head.  In  highly  cultivated  races 
this  habit  is  no  longer  followed,  and  consequently  the 
back  of  the  skull  becomes  modified  in  shape,  entailing 
other  changes  in  other  parts.  There  can  hardly  be  a 
doubt  that  so  great  a  change  in  habits  would  affect 
the  skull  ;  but  it  seems  rather  doubtful  how  far  this 
will  account  for  the  greatly  reduced  length  of  the  skull 
and  for  its  concave  front.  It  is  well  known  (Nathu- 
sius  himself  advancing  many  cases,  s.  104)  that  there  is 
a  strong  tendency  in  many  domestic  animals — in  bull- 
and  pug-  dogs,  in  the  niata  cattle,  in  sheep,  in  Polish 
fowls,  short-faced  tumbler  pigeons,  and  in  one  variety  of 
the  carp — for  the  bones  of  the  face  to  become  greatly 
shortened.  In  the  case  of  the  dog,  as  H.  Mtiller  has 
shown,  this  seems  caused  by  an  abnormal  state  of  the  pri- 
mordial cartilage.  We  may,  however,  readily  admit  that 
abundant  and  rich  food  supplied  during  many  generations 
would  give  an  inherited  tendency  to  increased  size  of 
body,  and  that,  from  disuse,  the  limbs  would  become  finer 
and  shorter.18  We  shall  in  a  future  chapter  also  see  that 
the  skull  and  limbs  are  apparently  in  some  manner  cor- 


17  'Schweineschadel,'  s.  74,  135. 

is  Nathusius,  '  Die  Racen  des  Schweines,'  s.  71. 


Chap.  III.  THEIR    VARIATION.  95 

related,  so  that  any  change  in  the  one  tends  to  affect  the 
other. 

Nathusius  has  remarked,  and  the  observation  is  an 
interesting  one,  that  the  peculiar  form  of  the  skull  and 
body  in  the  most  highly  cultivated  races  is  not  charac- 
teristic of  any  one  race,  but  is  common  to  all  when  im- 
proved up  to  the  same  standard.  Thus  the  large-bodied, 
long-eared,  English  breeds  with  a  convex  back,  and  the 
small-bodied,  short-eared,  Chinese  breeds  with  a  concave 
back,  when  bred  to  the  same  state  of  perfection,  nearly 
resemble  each  other  in  the  form  of  the  head  and  body. 
This  result,  it  appears,  is  partly  due  to  similar  causes  of 
change  acting  on  the  several  races,  and  partly  to  man 
breeding  the  pig  for  one  sole  purpose,  namely,  for  the 
greatest  amount  of  flesh  and  fit ;  so  that  selection  has 
always  tended  towards  one  and  the  same  end.  With 
most  domestic  animals  the  result  of  selection  has  been 
divergence  of  character,  here  it  has  been  convergence.19 

The  nature  of  the  food  supplied  during  many  genera- 
tions has  apparently  affected  the  length  of  the  intestines ; 
for,  according  to  Cuvier,20  their  length  to  that  of  the  body 
in  the  wild  boar  is  as  9  to  1, — in  the  common  domestic 
boar  as  13*5  to  1, — and  in  the  Siam  breed  as  16  to  1.  In 
this  latter  breed  the  greater  length  may  be  due  either  to 
descent  from  a  distinct  species  or  to  more  ancient  domes- 
tication. The  number  of  mamma?  vary,  as  does  the  pe- 
riod of  gestation.  The  latest  authority  says  21  that  "  the 
period  averages  from  17  to  20  weeks,"  but  I  think  there 
must  be  some  error  in  this  statement :  in  M.  Tessier's 
observations  on  25  sows  it  varied  from  109  to  123  days. 
The  Rev.  W.  D.  Fox  has  given  me  ten  carefully  recorded 
cases  with  well-bred  pigs,  in  which  the  period  varied  from 
101  to  116  days.     According  to  Nathusius  the  period  is 


19  'Die  Racen  des  Schweines,'  s.  47.  'The  Pig,'  1S47. 

'  Schweineschadel,'    s.  104.      Compare,  20  Quoted    by  Isid.    Geoffroy,   '  ITlst. 

also,  the  figures  of  the  old  Irisd  and  the  Nat.  Gen.,'  torn.  iii.  p.  441. 

improved  Irish  breeds  in  Richardson  on  21  S.  Sidney,  '  The  Pig,'  p.  61. 


96 


DOMESTIC    PIGS. 


Chap.  Ill 


shortest  in  the  races  which  come  early  to  maturity ;  but 
in  these  latter  the  course  of  development  does  not  appear 
to  be  actually  shortened,  for  the  young  animal  is  born, 
judging  from  the  state  of  the  skull,  less  fully  developed, 
or  in  a  more  embryonic  condition,"  than  in  the  case  of 
common  swine,  which  arrive  at  maturity  at  a  later  age. 
In  the  highly  cultivated  and  early  matui-ed  races,  the 
teeth,  also,  are  developed  earlier. 

The  difference  in  the  number  of  the  vertebrae  and  ribs 
in  different  kinds  of  pigs,  as  observed  by  Mr.  Eyton,23 
and  as  given  in  the  following  table,  has  often  been 
quoted.  The  African  sow  probably  belongs  to  the  S. 
scrofa  type ;  and  Mr.  Eyton  informs  me  that,  since  the 
publication  of  his  paper,  cross-bred  animals  from  the 
African  and  English  races  were  found  by  Lord  Hill  to 
be  perfectly  fertile. 


English 

Long-legged 

Male. 

African 
Female. 

Chinese 
Male. 

Wild  Boar, 

from     Cu- 

vier. 

French 

Domestic 

Boar,   from 

Cuvier. 

Dorsal  vertebrae.. 

Lumbar 

Dorsal  and  lum- } 
bar  together  ..  ) 

15 
6 

13 
6 

15 
4 

14 

5 

14 
5 

21 
5 

19 
5 

19 

4 

19 

4 

19 
4 

Total  number) 
of  vertebrae  ..  f 

26 

24 

23 

23 

23 

Some  semi-monstrous  breeds  deserve  notice.  From  the 
time  of  Aristotle  to  the  present  time  solid-hoofed  swine 
have  occasionally  been  observed  in  various  parts  of  the 
world.     Although  this  peculiarity  is  strongly  inherited, 


22  'Schweineschadel,'  s.  2,20. 

23  'Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,'  1837,  p.  23. 
I  have  not  given  the  caudal  vertebrae, 
as  Mr.  Eyton  says  some  might  possibly 
have  been  lost.  I  have  added  together 
the  dorsal  and  lumbar  vertebra?,  owing 
to  Prof.  Owen's  remarks  ('  Journal  Linn. 


Soc.,'  vol.  ii.  p.  28)  on  the  difference 
between  dorsal  and  lumbar  vertebra 
depending  only  on  the  development  ol 
the  ribs.  Nevertheless  the  difference  in 
the  number  of  the  ribs  in  pigs  deserves 
notice. 


Chap.  III.  THEIR    VARIATION.  97 

it  is  hardly  probable  that  all  the  animals  with  solid  hoofs 
have  descended  from  the  same  parents ;  it  is  more  proba- 
ble that  the  same  peculiarity  has  reappeared  at  various 
times  and  places.  Dr.  Struthers  has  lately  described  and 
figured  "  the  structure  of  the  feet ;  in  both  front  and  hind 
feet  the  distal  phalanges  of  the  two  greater  toes  are  re- 
presented by  a  single,  great,  hoof-bearing  phalanx  ;  and 
in  the  front  feet,  the  middle  phalanges  are  represented  by 
a  bone  which  is  single  towards  the  lower  end,  but  bears 
two  separate  articulations  towards  the  upper  end.  From 
other  accounts  it  appears  that  an  intermediate  toe  is 
likewise  sometimes  superadded. 

Another  curious  anomaly  is  offered  by  the  appendages, 
described  by  M.  Eudes-Deslongchamps  as  often  character- 
izing the  Normandy  pigs.  These  appendages  are  always 
attached  to  the  same  spot,  to  the  corners  of  the  jaw  ;  they 
are  cylindrical,  about  three  inches  in  length,  covered  with 
bristles,  and  with  a  pencil  of  bristles  rising  out  of  a  sinus 
on  one  side :  they  have  a  cartilaginous  centre,  with  two 


Fig.  4. — Old  Irish  Pig,  with  jaw-appendages.  (Copied  from  H.  D.  Richardson  on  Pigs.) 


34  'Edinburgh  N'ewPhilosoph.  Journal.'        teographie,'  p.  12S,  for  various  authorities 
April,  1S63.  See  also  De  Blainville's  '  Os-       on  this  subject. 


98  DOMESTIC    PIGS.  Chap.  III. 

small  longitudinal  muscles ;  they  occur  either  symmetri- 
cally on  both  sides  of  the  face  or  on  one  side  alone. 
Richardson  figures  them  on  the  gaunt  old  "Irish  Grey- 
hound pig ;"  and  ISTathusius  states  that  they  occasionally 
appear  in  all  the  long-eared  races,  but  are  not  strictly  in- 
herited, for  they  occur  or  fail  in  animals  of  the  same  lit- 
ter.25 As  no  wild  pigs  are  known  to  have  analogous  ap- 
pendages, we  have  at  present  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
their  appearance  is  due  to  reversion ;  and  if  this  be  so, 
we  are  forced  to  admit  that  somewhat  complex,  though 
apparently  useless,  structures  may  be  suddenly  developed 
without  the  aid  of  selection.  This  case  perhaps  throws 
some  light  on  the  manner  of  appearance  of  the  hideous 
fleshy  protuberances,  though  of  an  essentially  different 
nature  from  the  above-described  appendages,  on  the 
cheeks  of  the  wart-hog  or  Phacochoerus  Africanus. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  boars  of  all  domesti- 
cated breeds  have  much  shorter  tusks  than  wild  boars. 
Many  facts  show  that  with  all  animals  the  state  of  the 
hair  is  much  affected  by  exposure  to,  or  protection  from, 
climate  ;  and  as  we  see  that  the  state  of  the  hair  and 
teeth  are  correlated  in  Turkish  dogs  (other  analogous 
facts  will  be  hereafter  given),  may  we  not  venture  to 
surmise  that  the  reduction  of  the  tusks  in  the  domestic 
boar  is  related  to  his  coat  of  bristles  being  diminished 
from  living  under  shelter?  On  the  other  hand,  as  we 
shall  immediately  see,  the  tusks  and  bristles  reappear 
with  feral  boars,  which  are  no  longer  protected  from  the 
weather.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  tusks  should  be 
more  affected  than  the  other  teeth  ;  as  parts  developed 
to  serve  as  secondary  sexual  characters  are  always  liable 
to  much  variation. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  young  of  wild  Euro- 


s'  Eudes-Deslonjrehamps,  '  Memoire3        gin,  *c.,'  1S47,  p.  30.      Nathusiug,  '  Die 
de  la  Soc.  Linn,  de  Normandie,'  vol.  vii.,        Kacen  des  Schweines,'  1860,  s.  54. 
1S42,  p.  41.  Richardson, '  Pigs,  their  Ori- 


Chap.  III.  THEIR    VARIATION.  99 

perm  and  Indian  pigs26  for  the  first  six  months,  are  longi- 
tudinally banded  with  light-coloured  stripes.  This  cha- 
racter generally  disappears  under  domestication.  The 
Turkish  domestic  pigs,  however,  have  striped  young,  as 
have  those  of  Westphalia,  "whatever  may  be  their 
hue  ;"  "  whether  these  latter  pigs  belong  to  the  same  curly- 
haired  race  with  the  Turkish  swine,  I  do  not  know.  The 
pigs  which  have  run  wild  in  Jamaica  aud  the  semi-feral 
pigs  of  New  Granada,  both  those  which  are  black  and 
those  which  are  black  with  a  white  band  across  the  sto- 
mach, often  extending  over  the  back,  have  resumed  this 
aboriginal  character  and  produce  longitudinally-striped 
youug.  This  is  likewise  the  case,  at  least  occasionally, 
with  the  neglected  pigs  in  the  Zambesi  settlement  on  the 
coast  of  Africa. 28 

The  common  belief  that  all  domesticated  animals,  when 
they  ruu  wild,  revert  completely  to  the  character  of  their 
parent-stock,  is  chiefly  founded,  as  far  as  I  can  discover, 
on  feral  pigs.     But  eveu  in  this  case  the  belief  is  not 


84  D.  Johnson's  '  Sketches  of  Indian  feral  boars  is  by  P.  Labat  (quoted  by 
Field  Sports,'  p.  272.  Mr.  Crawfurd  Roulin)  ;  but  this  author  attributes  the 
informs  me  that  the  same  fact  holds  state  of  these  pigs  to  descent  from  a  do- 
good  with  the  wild  pigs  of  the  Malay  mestic  stock  which  he  saw  in  Spain, 
peninsula.  Admiral  Sulivan,  R.N.,  had   ample   op- 

27  For  Turkish  pigs,   see  Desmarest,  portunities  of  observing  the  wild   pigs 

'  Mammalogie,'  1820,  p.  391.    For  those  on  Eagle  Islet  in  the  Falklands  ;  and  he 

of  Westphalia,  see  Richardson's  '  Pigs,  informs  me   that    they  resembled    wild 

their  Origin,'  &c,  1S47,  p.  41.  boars  with  bristly  ridged  backs  and  large 

38  With  respect  to  the  several  fore-  tusks.  The  pigs  which  have  run  wild 
going  and  following  statements  on  feral  in  the  province  of  Buenos  Ayres  (Reng- 
pigs,  see  Roulin,  in  'Mem.  presentes  par  ger,  'Saugethiere,'  s.  331)  have  not  re- 
divers  Savans  a  l'Acad.,' &c,  Paris,  torn,  verted  to  the  wild  type.  De  Blainville 
vi.,  1S35,  p.  326.  It  should  be  observed  ('  Osteographie,'  p.  132)  refers  to  two 
that  his  account  does  not  apply  to  truly  skulls  of  domestic  pigs  sent  from  Pata- 
feral  pigs ;  but  to  pigs  long  introduced  gonia  by  Al.  d'Orbigny,  and  he  states 
into  the  country  and  living  in  a  half-  that  they  have  the  occipital  elevation  of 
wild  state.  For  the  truly  feral  pigs  of  the  wild  European  boar,  but  that  the 
Jamaica,  see  Gosse's  '  Sojourn  in  Ja-  head  altogether  is  "  plus  courte  et  plus 
maica,'  1S51,  p.  3S6  ;  and  Col.  Hamilton  ramassee."  He  refers,  also,  to  the  skin 
Smith,  in  'Nat.  Library,'  vol.  ix.  p.  93.  of  a  feral  pig  from  North  America,  and 
With  respect  to  Africa,  see  Livingstone's  says,  "  il  ressemble  tout  a  fait  a  un  petit 
'Expedition  to  the  Zambesi,'  1865,  p.  sanglier,  mais  il  est  presque  tout  noir,  et 
153.  The  most  precise  statement  with  peut-fitre  un  peu  plus  ramasse  dans  ses 
respect  to  the  tusks  of  the  West  Indian  formes." 


100  DOMESTIC    PIGS.  Chap.  in. 

gi-ounded  on  sufficient  evidence ;  for  the  two  main  types 
of  8.  scrofa  and  Indica  have  never  been  distinguished  in 
a  feral  state.  The  young,  as  we  have  just  seen,  reac- 
quire their  longitudinal  stripes,  and  the  boars  invariably 
reassume  their  tusks.  They  revert  also  in  the  general 
shape  of  their  bodies,  and  in  the  length  of  their  legs  and 
muzzles,  to  the  state  of  the  wild  animal,  as  might  have 
been  expected  from  the  amount  of  exercise  which  they 
are  compelled  to  take  in  search  of  food.  In  Jamaica  the 
feral  pigs  do  not  acquire  the  full  size  of  the  European 
wild  boar,  "never  attaining  a  greater  height  than  20 
inches  at  the  shoulder."  In  various  countries  they  reas- 
sume their  original  bristly  covering,  but  in  different 
degrees,  dependent  on  the  climate ;  thus,  according  to 
Roulin,  the  semi-feral  pigs  in  the  hot  valleys  of  New 
Granada  are  very  scantily  clothed;  whereas,  on  the  Pa- 
ramos, at  the  height  of  7000  to  8000  feet,  they  acquire  a 
thick  covering  of  wool  lying  under  the  bristles,  like  that 
on  the  truly  wild  pigs  of  France.  These  pigs  on  the 
Paramos  are  small  and  stunted.  The  wild  boar  of  India 
is  said  to  have  the  bristles  at  the  end  of  its  tail  arranged 
like  the  plumes  of  an  arrow,  whilst  the  European  boar 
has  a  simple  tuft ;  and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  many,  but 
not  all,  of  the  feral  pigs  in  Jamaica,  derived  from  a  Span- 
ish stock,  have  a  plumed  tail.29  With  respect  to  colour, 
feral  pigs  generally  revert  to  that  of  the  wild  boar ;  but 
in  certain  parts  of  S.  America,  as  we  have  seen,  some  of 
the  semi-feral  pigs  have  a  curious  white  band  across  their 
stomachs ;  and  in  certain  other  hot  places  the  pigs  are 
red,  and  this  colour  has  likewise  occasionally  been  ob- 
served in  the  feral  pigs  of  Jamaica.  From  these  several 
facts  we  see  that  with  pigs  when  feral  there  is  a  strong 
tendency  to  revert  to  the  wild  type ;  but  that  this  ten- 


s' Gosse's  '  Jamaica,'  p.  386,  with  a       Smith,  in    '  Naturalist's   Library,'  toL 
quotation  from  Williamson's   '  Oriental        ix.  p.  94. 
Field    Sports.'       Also    Col.    Hamilton 


Chap.  III.  CATTLE  '.     THEIR    PARENTAGE.  101 

dency  is  largely  governed  by  the  nature  of  the  climate, 
amount  of  exercise,  and  other  causes  of  change  to  which 
they  have  been  subjected. 

The  last  point  worth  notice  is  that  we  have  unusually 
good  evidence  of  breeds  of  pigs  now  keeping  perfectly 
true,  which  have  been  formed  by  the  crossing  of  several 
distinct  breeds.  The  Improved  Essex  pigs,  for  instance, 
breed  very  true";  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  largely 
owe  their  present  excellent  qualities  to  crosses  originally 
made  by  Lord  Western  with  the  Neapolitan  race,  and  to 
subsequent  crosses  with  the  Berkshire  breed  (this  also 
having  been  improved  by  Neapolitan  crosses),  and  like- 
wise, probably,  with  the  Sussex  breed.30  In  breeds  thus 
formed  by  complex  crosses,  the  most  careful  and  unre- 
mitting selection  during  many  generations  has  been  found 
to  be  indispensable.  Chiefly  in  consequence  of  so  much 
crossing,  some  -well-known  breeds  have  undergone  rapid 
changes ;  thus,  according  to  Nathusius,31  the  Berkshire 
breed  of  1780  is  quite  different  from  that  of  1810;  and 
since  this  latter  period,  at  least  two  distinct  forms  have 
borne  the  same  name. 

Cattle. 

Domestic  cattle  are  almost  certainly  the  descendants  of 
more  than  one  wild  form,  in  the  same  manner  as  has  been 
shown  to  be  the  case  with  our  dogs  and  pigs.  Natural- 
ists have  generally  made  two  main  divisions  of  cattle ;  the 
humped  kinds  inhabiting  tropical  countries,  called  in  India 
Zebus,  to  which  the  specific  name  of  Bos  Indiana  has  been 
given  ;  and  the  common  non-humped  cattle,  generally  in- 
cluded under  the  name  of  Bos  taurus.  The  humped  cattle 
were  domesticated,  as  may  be  seen  on  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments, at  least  as  early  as  the  twelfth  dynasty,  that  is 
2100  b.c.      They  differ  from  common  cattle  in  various 


so  S.  Sidney's  edition  of  '  Youatt  on  the  Pig,'  1860,  pp.  7,  26,  27,  29, ! 
•i  '  Schweineschadel,'  s.  140. 


102  CATTLE.  Chap.  m. 

osteological  characters,  even  in  a  greater  degree,  accord- 
ing to  Rtitimeyer,38  than  do  the  fossil  species  of  Europe, 
namely  Bos  primigenias,  longifrons,  and  frontosus,  from 
each  other.  They  differ,  also,  as  Mr.  Blyth,33  who  has 
particularly  attended  to  this  subject,  remarks,  in  general 
configuration,  in  the  shape  of  their  ears,  in  the  point 
where  the  dewlap  commences,  in  the  typical  curvature 
of  their  horns,  in  their  manner  of  carrying  their  heads 
when  at  rest,  in  their  ordinary  variations  of  colour,  espe- 
cially in  the  frequent  presence  of  "  nilgau-like  markings 
on  their  feet,"  and  "  in  the  one  being  born  with  teeth  pro- 
truding through  the  jaws,  and  the  other  not  so."  They 
have  different  habits,  and  their  voice  is  entirely  different. 
The  humped  cattle  in  India  "seldom  seek  shade,  and 
never  go  into  the  water  and  there  stand  knee-deep,  like 
the  cattle  of  Europe."  They  have  ran  wild  in  parts  of 
Oude  and  Rohilcund,  and  can  maintain  themselves  in  a 
region  infested  by  tigers.  They  have  given  rise  to  many 
races  differing  greatly  in  size,  in  the  presence  of  one  or 
two  humps,  in  length  of  horns,  and  other  respects.  Mr. 
Blyth  sums  up  emphatically  that  the  humped  and  hump- 
less  cattle  must  be  considered  as  distinct  species.  When 
we  consider  the  number  of  points  in  external  structure 
and  habits,  independently  of  their  important  osteological 
differences,  in  which  they  differ  from  each  other;  and 
that  many  of  these  points  are  not  likely  to  have  been 
affected  by  domestication,  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt, 
notwithstanding  the  adverse  opinion  of  some  naturalists, 
that  the  humped  and  non-hunted  cattle  must  be  ranked 
as  specifically  distinct. 

32  '  Die  Fauna  der  Pfahlbauten,'  1861,  teen  or  fourteen  in  number ;  see  a  note  in 
s.  109, 149,  222.  See  also  Geoffroy  Saint  '  Indian  Field,'  1858,  p.  62. 
Hilaire,  in  '  Mem.  du  Mus.  d'Hist.  Nat,'  33  '  The  Indian  Field,'  1858,  p.  74, 
torn.  x.  p.  172;  and  his  son  Isidore,  in  where  Mr.  Blyth  gives  his  authorities 
'  Hist.  Nat.  Gen.,'  torn.  iii.  p.  69.  Vasey,  with  respect  to  the  feral  humped  cattle, 
in  his  '  Delineations  of  the  Ox  Tribe,'  Pickering,  also,  in  his  '  Races  of  Man,' 
1851,  p.  127,  says  the  zebu  has  four,  and  1850,  p.  274,  notices  the  peculiar  cha- 
the  common  ox  five,  sacral  vertebras.  racterof  the  grunt-like  voice  of  the  hump- 
Mr.  Hodgson  found  the  ribs  either  thir-  ed  cattle. 


Chap.  III.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  103 

The  Em'opean  breeds  of  humpless  cattle  are  numerous. 
Professor  Low  enumerates  19  British  breeds,  only  a  few 
of  which  are  identical  with  those  on  the  Continent.  Even 
the  small  Channel  islands  of  Guernsey,  Jersey,  and 
Alderney,  possess  their  own  sub-breeds;34  and  these 
again  differ  from  the  cattle  of  the  other  British  islands, 
such  as  Anglesea,  and  the  western  isles  of  Scotland. 
Desmarest,  who  paid  attention  to  the  subject,  describes 
15  French  races,  excluding  sub-varieties  and  those  im- 
ported from  other  countries.  Iu  other  parts  of  Europe 
there  are  several  distinct  races,  such  as  the  pale-coloured 
Hungarian  cattle,  with  their  light  and  free  step,  and  their 
enormous  horns  sometimes  measuring  above  five  feet  from 
tip  to  tip:35  the  Podolian  cattle  are  remarkable  from  the 
height  of  their  forequarters.  In  the  most  recent  work  on 
Cattle,36  engravings  are  given  of  fifty-five  European 
breeds ;  it  is,  however,  probable  that  several  of  these 
differ  very  little  from  each  other,  or  are  merely  syno- 
nyms.- It  must  not  be  supposed  that  numerous  breeds 
of  cattle  exist  only  in  long-civilized  countries,  for  we  shall 
presently  see  that  several  kinds  are  kept  by  the  savages 
of  Southern  Africa. 

With  respect  to  the  parentage  of  the  several  European  breeds,  we 
already  know  much  from  Nilsson's  Memoir,37  and  more  especially 
from  Rtitimeyer's  '  Pfahlbauten '  and  succeeding  works.  Two  or 
three  specimens  or  forms  of  Bos,  closely  allied  to  still  living  domestic 
races,  have  been  found  fossil  in  the  more  recent  tertiary  deposits  of 
Europe.     Following  Riitimeyer,  we  have  : — 

Bos  primigenius. — This  magnificent,  well-known  species  was  do- 
mesticated in  Switzerland  during  tlie  Neolithic  period  ;  even  at  this 
early  period  it  varied  a  little,  having  apparently  been  crossed  with 
other  races.     Some  of  the  larger  races  on  the  Continent,  as  the 


34  Mr.    II.    E.    Marquand,     in    '  The  genius. 

Times,'  June  23rd,  1856.  3e  Moll  and  Gayot,  '  La  Connaissance 

31  Vasey,    '  Delineations    of   the   Ox  Gen.  du  Boeuf,'  Paris,  1S60.     Fig.  S2  is 

Tribe,'  p.  124.    Brace's  '  Hungary,'  1851,  that  of  the  Podolian  breed. 

p.  94.     The  Hungarian  cattle  descend,  37  A  translation    appeared    in  three 

according  to  Riitimeyer  ('  Zahmen.  Europ.  parts  in  the  '  Annals  and  Mag.  of  Nat. 

EUndes.,  1S66,  s.  13),  from  Bos  primi-  Hist.,'  2nd  series,  vol.  iv.,  1849. 


104  CA1TLE.  Chap.  in. 

Friesland,  &c,  and  the  Pembroke  race  in  England,  closely  resemble 
in  essential  structure  B.  primigenius,  and  no  doubt  are  its  descen- 
dants. This  is  likewise  the  opinion  of  Nilsson.  Bos  primigenius 
existed  as  a  wild  animal  in  Caesar's  time,  and  is  now  semi-wild, 
though  much  degenerated  in  size,  in  the  park  of  Chillingham ;  for 
I  am  informed  by  Professor  Eiitimeyer,  to  whom  Lord  Tankerville 
sent  a  skull,  that  the  Chillingham  cattle  are  less  altered  from  the 
true  primigenius  type  than  any  other  known  breed.88 

Bos  trochoceros. — This  form  is  not  included  in  the  three  species 
above  mentioned,  for  it  is  now  considered  by  Rutimeyer  to  be  the 
female  of  an  early  domesticated  form  of  B.  primigenius,  and  as  the 
progenitor  of  his  frontosus  race.  I  may  add  that  specific  names 
have  been  given  to  four  other  fossil  oxen,  now  believed  to  be  iden- 
tical with  B.  primigenius.™ 

Bos  longifrons  (or  brachyceros)  of  Owen. — This  very  distinct  spe- 
cies was  of  small  size,  and  had  a  short  body  with  fine  legs.  It  has 
been  found  in  England  associated  with  the  remains  of  the  elephant 
and  rhinoceros.40  It  was  the  commonest  form  in  a  domesticated 
condition  in  Switzerland  during  the  earliest  part  of  the  Neolithic 
period.  It  was  domesticated  in  England  during  the  Roman  period, 
and  supplied  food  to  the  Roman  legionaries.41  Some  remains  have 
been  found  in  Ireland  in  certain  crannoges,  of  which  the  dates  are 
believed  to  be  from  843-933  a.d.42  Professor  Owen 43  thinks  it  pro- 
bable that  the  Welsh  and  Highland  cattle  are  descended  from  this 
form  ;  as  likewise  is  the  case,  according  to  Rutimeyer,  with  some  of 
the  existing  Swiss  breeds.  These  latter  are  of  different  shades  of 
colour  from  light-grey  to  blackish-brown,  with  a  lighter  stripe 
along  the  spine,  but  they  have  no  pure  white  marks.  The  cattle  of 
North  Wales  and  the  Highlands,  on  the  other  hand,  are  generally 
black  or  dark-coloured. 

Bos  frontosus  of  Nilsson. — This  species  is  allied  to  B.  longifrons, 
but  in  the  opinion  of  some  good  judges  is  distinct  from  it.  Both  co- 
existed in  Scania  during  the  same  late  geological  period,44  and  both 


38  See,  also,  Rutimeyer's  '  Beitrage  pal.  1S66,  p.  xv. 

Gesch.  der  Wiederkauer,' Basel,  1S65,  s.  *2  W.   R.  Wilde,   'An  Essay  on  the 

54.  Animal  Remains,  &c,  Royal  Irish  Aca- 

39  Pictet's   '  Paleontologie,'  torn.  i.  p.  demy,'  1860,   p.   29.     Also  '  Proc.  of  R. 
3G5  (2nd  edit.)     With  respect  to  B.  tro-  Irish  Acudemy,'  1858,  p.  48. 
choceros,  see  Rutimeyer's  '  Zalimen  Eu-  43  '  Lecture  :  Royal   Institution  of  G-. 
rop.  Rindes,'  1S66,  s.  26.  Britain,' May«nd,  1S56,   p.  4.     'British 

40  Owen,    'British   Fossil    Mammals,'  Fossil  Mammals,' p.  513. 

1S46,  p.  510.  44  Nilsson,  in   '  Annals  and  Mag.  of 

41  '  British  Pleistocene  Mammalia,'  by  Nat.  Hist.,'  1S49,  vol.  iv.  p.  354. 
W.  B.  Dawkins   and    W.   A.   Sandford, 


Chap.  III.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  105 

have  been  found  in  the  Irish  crannoges."  Nilsson  believes  that  hia 
B.frontosus  may  be  the  parent  of  the  mountain  cattle  of  Norway, 
which  have  a  high  protuberance  on  the  skull  between  the  base  of  the 
horns.  As  Professor  Owen  believes  that  the  Scotch  Highland  cattle 
are  descended  from  his  B.  longifrons,  it  is  worth  notice  that  a  capa- 
ble judge46  has  remarked  that  he  saw  no  cattle  in  Norway  like  the 
Highland  breed,  but  that  they  more  nearly  resembled  the  Devon- 
Eliire  breed. 

Hence  we  see  that  three  forms  or  species  of  Bos,  ori- 
ginally inhabitants  of  Europe,  have  been  domesticated  ; 
but  there  is  no  improbability  in  this  fact,  for  the 
genus  Bos  readily  yields  to  domestication.  Besides  these 
three  species  and  the  zebu,  the  yak,  the  gayal,  and  the 
ami 47  (ndfc  to  mention  the  buffalo  or  genus  Bubalus)  have 
been  domesticated ;  making  altogether  seven  species  of 
Bos.  The  zebu  and  the  three  European  species  are  now 
extinct  in  a  wild  state,  for  the  cattle  of  the  J3.  primige- 
niics  type  in  the  British  parks  can  hardly  be  considered 
as  truly  wild.  Although  certain  races  of  cattle,  domes- 
ticated at  a  very  ancient  period  in  Europe,  are  the  de- 
scendants of  the  three  above-named  fossil  species,  yet  it 
does  not  follow  that  they  were  here  first  domesticated. 
Those  who  place  much  reliance  on  philology  argue  that 
our  cattle  were  imported  from  the  East.48  But  as  races 
of  men  invading  any  country  would  probably  give  their 
own  names  to  the  breeds  of  cattle  which  they  might 
there  find  domesticated,  the  argument  seems  inconclu- 
sive. There  is  indirect  evidence  that  our  cattle  are  the 
descendants  of  species  which  originally  inhabited  a  tem- 
perate or  cold  climate,  but  not  a  land  long  covered  with 
snow;  for  our  cattle, as  we  have  seen  in  the  chapter  on 
Horses,  apparently  have  not  the  instinct  of  scraping 
away  the  snow  to  get  at  the  herbage  beneath.  .  No  one 


46  See  W.  R.  Wilde,  ut  supra ;  and  Mr.  «?  Isid.   Geoflroy    St.    Hilaire,   'Hist. 

Blyth,  in  '  Proc.  Irish  Academy,'  March  Nat.  Gen.,'  torn,  iii,  p.  96. 

5th,  1S64.  «8  idem,  torn.  iii.  pp.  82,  91. 

48  Laiog's  'Tour  in  Norway,'  p.  110. 


106  CATTLE.  Chap.  Ill 

could  behold  the  magnificent  wild  bulls  on  the  bleak 
Falkland  Islands  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  and  doubt 
about  the  climate  being  admirably  suited  to  them. 
Azara  has  remarked  that  in  the  temperate  regions  of  La 
Plata  the  cows  conceive  when  two  years  old,  whilst  in 
the  much  hotter  country  of  Paraguay  they  do  not  con- 
ceive till  three  years  old ;  "  from  which  fact,"  as  he  adds, 
"  one  may  conclude  that  cattle  do  not  succeed  so  well  in 
warm  countries."  49 

The  above-named  three  fossil  forms  of  Bos  have  been 
ranked  by  nearly  all  palaeontologists  as  distinct  species ; 
and  it  would  not  be  reasonable  to  change  their  denomina- 
tion simply  because  they  are  now  found  to  be  the  parents 
of  several  domesticated  races.  But  what  is  of  most  im- 
portance for  us,  as  showing  that  they  deserve  to  be  rank- 
ed as  species,  is  that  they  co-existed  in  different  parts  of 
Europe  during  the  same  period,  and  yet  kept  distinct. 
Their  domesticated  descendants,  on  the  other  hand,  if  not 
separated,  cross  with  the  utmost  freedom  and  become 
commingled.  The  several  European  breeds  have  so  often 
been  crossed,  both  intentionally  and  unintentionally,  that, 
if  any  sterility  ensued  from  such  unions,  it  would  certain- 
ly have  been  detected.  As  zebus  inhabit  a  distant  and 
much  hotter  region,  and  as  they  differ  in  so  many  charac- 
ters from  our  European  cattle,  I  have  taken  pains  to 
ascertain  whether  the  two  forms  are  fertile  when  crossed. 
The  late  Lord  Powis  imported  some  zebus  and  crossed 
them  with  common  cattle  in  Shropshire ;  and  I  was  as- 
sured by  his  steward  that  the  cross-bred  animals  were 
perfectly  fertile  with  both  parent-stocks.  Mr.  Blyth  in- 
forms me  that  in  India  hybrids,  with  various  proportions 
of  either  blood,  are  quite  fertile  ;  and  this  can  hardly  fail 
to  be  known,  for  in  some  districts60  the  two  species  are 
allowed  to  breed  freely  together.     Most  of  the   cattle 


49  '  Quadrupedes  du  Paraguay,'  torn.  ii.  p.  360. 

50  Walther,  '  Das  Rindvieh,'  1817,  s.  30. 


Chap.  IIL  CKOSSED    SPECIES    FERTILE.  107 

■which  were  first  introduced  into  Tasmania  were  humped, 
so  that  at  one  time  thousands  of  crossed  animals  existed 
there  ;  and  Mr.  B.  O'Neile  Wilson,  M.A.,  writes  to  me 
from  Tasmania  that  he  has  never  heard  of  any  sterility- 
having  been  observed.  He  himself  formerly  possessed  a 
herd  of  such  crossed  cattle,  and  all  were  perfectly  fertile ; 
so  much  so,  that  he  cannot  remember  even  a  single  cow 
failing  to  calve.  These  several  facts  afford  an  important 
confirmation  of  the  Pallasian  doctrine  that  the  descen- 
dants of  species  which  when  first  domesticated  would  if 
crossed  probably  have  been  in  some  degree^sterile,  become 
perfectly  fertile  after  a  long  course  of  domestication.  In 
a  future  chapter  we  shall  see  that  this  doctrine  throws 
much  light  on  the  difficult  subject  of  Hybridism. 

I  have  alluded  to  the  cattle  in  Chilling!] am  Park, 
which,  according  to  Riitimeyer,  have  been  very  little 
changed  from  the  Bos  primigenius  type.  This  park  is  so 
ancient  that  it  is  referred  to  in  a  record  of  the  year  1220. 
The  cattle  in  their  instincts  and  habits  are  truly  wild.  They 
are  white,  with  the  inside  of  the  ears  reddish  brown,  eyes 
rimmed  with  black,  muzzles  brown,  hoofs  black,  and  horns 
white  tipped  with  black.  Within  a  period  of  thirty-three 
years  about  a  dozen  calves  were  born  with  "  brown  and 
blue  spots  upon  the  cheeks  or  necks ;  but  these,  together 
with  any  defective  animals,  were  always  destroyed.  "  Ac- 
cording to  Bewick,  about  the  year  1770  some  calves  ap- 
peared with  black  ears ;  but  these  were  also  destroyed 
by  the  keeper,  and  black  ears  have  not  since  reappeared. 
The  wild  white  cattle  in  the  Duke  of  Hamilton's  park, 
where  I  have  heard  of  the  birth  of  a  black  calf,  are  said 
by  Lord  Tankervillc  to  be  inferior  to  those  at  Chilling- 
ham.  The  cattle  kept  until  the  year  1780  by  the  Duke  of 
Queensberry,  but  now  extinct,  had  their  ears,  muzzle,  and 
orbits  of  the  eyes  black.  Those  which  have  existed  from 
time  immemorial  at  Chartley  closely  resemble  the  cattle 
at  Chillingham,  but  are  larger,  "  with  some  small  differ- 
ence in  the  colour  of  the  ears."  "  They  frequently  tend  to 


108  CATTLE.  Chap.  in. 

become  entirely  black ;  and  a  singular  superstition  pre- 
vails in  the  vicinity  that,  when  a  black  calf  is  born,  some 
calamity  impends  over  the  noble  house  of  Ferrers.  All 
the  black  calves  are  destroyed."  The  cattle  at  Burton 
Constable  in  Yorkshire,  now  extinct,  had  ears,  muzzle, 
and  the  tip  of  the  tail  black.  Those  at  Gisburne,  also  in 
Yorkshire,  are  said  by  Bewick  to  have  been  sometimes 
without  dark  muzzles,  with  the  inside  alone  of  the  ears 
brown ;  and  they  are  elsewhere  said  to  have  been  low  in 
stature  and  hornless.61 

The  several«above-specified  differences  in  the  park-cat- 
tle, slight  though  they  be,  are  worth  recording,  as  they 
show  that  animals  living  nearly  in  a  state  of  nature,  and 
exposed  to  nearly  uniform  conditions,  if  not  allowed  to 
roam  freely  and  to  cross  with  other  herds,  do  not  keep  as 
uniform  as  truly  wild  animals.  For  the  preservation  of 
a  uniform  character,  even  within  the  same  park,  a  certain 
degree  of  selection — that  is,  the  destruction  of  the  dark- 
coloured  calves — is  apparently  necessary. 

The  cattle  in  all  the  parks  are  white ;  but,  from  the  oc- 
casional appearance  of  dark-coloured  calves,  it  is  ex- 
tremely doubtful  whether  the  aboriginal  JBos primigenius 
was  white.  The  following  facts,  however,  show  that 
there  is  a  strong,  though  not  invariable,  tendency  in  wild 
or  escaped  cattle,  under  widely  different  conditions  of 
life,  to  become  white  with  coloured  ears.  If  the  old 
writers  Boethius  and  Leslie  M  can  be  trusted,  the  rwild 
cattle  of  Scotland  were  white  and  furnished  with  a  great 
mane :   but  the   colour  of  their  ears  is  not  mentioned. 


61  I  am  much  indebted  to  the  present  those  of  the  Duke  of  Queensberry,  nee 

Earl  of  Tankerville  for  information  about  Pennant's  '  Tour  in  Scotland,'  p.  109.  For 

his  wild  cattle;  and  for  the  skull  which  those  of  Chartley,  see  Low's  '  Domesti- 

was  sent  to  Prof.  Rutimeyer.  The  fullest  cated  Animals  of  Britain,'  1S45,  p.  233. 

account  of  the  Chillingharn  cattle  is  given  For  those    of   Gisburne,    see    Bewick's 

by  Mr.  Hindmarsh,  together  with  a  let-  'Quadrupeds,  and   Encyclop.  of   Rural 

ter  by  the  late  Lord  Tankerville,  in  'An-  Sports,'  p.  101. 

nals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,'  vol.  ii.,  1839,  5'2  Boethius  was  born  in  1470;  'An- 

p.  274.    See  Bewick,  '  Quadrupeds,'  2nd  nals  and  Mag.   of  Nat.  Hist.,'  vol.  ii., 

edit.,  1791,  p.  85,  note.    With  respect  to  1839,  p.  281 ;  and  vol.  i v.,  1849,  p.  424 


CHAP.   Ill 


PAEK-CATTLE.  109 


The  primaeval  forest  formerly  extended  across  the  whole 
country  from  Chillingham  to  Hamilton,  and  Sir  Walter 
Scott  used  to  maintain  that  the  cattle  still  preserved  in 
these  two  parks,  at  the  two  extremities  of  the  forest, 
were  remnants  of  its  original  inhabitants  ;  and  this  view 
certainly  seems  pi-obable.  In  Wales,63  during  the  tenth 
century,  some  of  the  cattle  are  described  as  being  white 
with  red  ears.  Four  hundred  cattle  thus  coloured  were 
sent  to  King  John  ;  and  an  early  record  speaks  of  a  hun- 
dred cattle  with  red  ears  having  been  demanded  as  a 
compensation  for  some  offence,  but,  if  the  cattle  were 
of  a  dark  or  black  colour,  one  hundred  and  fifty  were  to 
be  presented.  The  black  cattle  of  North  Wales  appa- 
rently belong,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  small  longifrons 
type  :  and  as  the  alternative  was  offered  of  either  150 
dark  cattle,  or  100  white  cattle  with  red  ears,  we  may 
presume  that  the  latter  were  the  larger  beasts,  and  pro- 
bably belonged  to  the  primigenius  type.  Youatt  has 
remarked  that  at  the  present  day,  whenever  cattle  of  the 
short-horn  breed  are  white,  the  extremities  of  their  ears 
are  more  or  less  tinged  with  red. 

The  cattle  which  have  run  wild  on  the  Pampas,  in 
Texas,  and  in  two  parts  of  Africa,  have  become  of  nearly 
uniform  dark  brownish-red.6*  On  the  Ladrone  Islands, 
in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  immense  herds  of  cattle,  which 
were  wild  in  the  year  1741,  are  described  as  "  milk-white, 
except  their  ears,  which  are  generally  black."66  The 
Falkland  Islands,  situated  far  south,  with  all  the  con- 
ditions of  life  as  different  as  it  is  possible  to  conceive 
from  those  of  the  Ladrones,  offer  a  more  interesting  case. 
Cattle  have  run  wild  there  during  eighty  or  ninety  years  ; 


63  Youatt  on  Cattle,  1834,  p.  48:  64  Azara, '  Des  Quadrupedes  du  Para- 
ge also  p.  242,  on  short  horn  cattle.  guay,'  torn.  ii.  p.  361.  Azara  quotes  Buf. 
Bell,  in  his  'British  Quadrupeds,'  p.  fon  for  the  feral  cattle  of  Africa.  For 
423,  states  that,  after  long  attending  to  Texas,  see  'Times,'  Feb.  ISth,  1S46. 
the  subject,  he  has  found  that  white  66  Anson's  Voyage.  See  Kerr  and 
cattle  invariably  have  coloured  ears.  Porter's  '  Collection,'  vol.  xii.  p.  103. 


110  CATTLE.  Chap.  III. 

and  in  the  southern  districts  the  animals  are  mostly- 
white,  with  their  feet,  or  whole  heads,  or  only  their  ears 
black ;  but  my  informant,  Admiral  Sulivan,56  who  long 
resided  on  these  islands,  does  not  believe  that  they  are 
ever  purely  white.  So  that  in  these  two  archipelagos 
we  see  that  the  cattle  tend  to  become  white  with  coloured 
ears.  In  other  parts  of  the  Falkland  Islands  other  co- 
lours prevail :  near  Port  Pleasant  brown  is  the  common 
tint ;  round  Mount  Usborne,  about  half  the  animals  in 
some  of  the  herds  were  lead  or  mouse-coloured,  which 
elsewhere  is  an  unusual  tint.  These  latter  cattle,  though 
generally  inhabiting  high  land,  breed  about  a  month 
earlier  than  the  other  cattle  ;  and  this  circumstance  would 
aid  in  keeping  them  distinct  and  in  perpetuating  this  pe- 
culiar colour.  It  is  worth  recalling  to  mind  that  blue  or 
lead-coloured  marks  have  occasionally  appeared  on  the 
white  cattle  of  Chillingham.  So  plainly  different  were 
the  colours  of  the  wild  herds  in  different  parts  of  the 
Falkland  Islands,  that  in  hunting  them,  as  Admiral  Suli- 
van informs  me,  white  spots  in  one  district,  and  dark 
spots  in  another  district,  were  always  looked  out  for  on 
the  distant  hills.  In  the  intermediate  districts  interme- 
diate colours  prevailed.  Whatever  the  cause  may  be, 
this  tendency  in  the  wild  cattle  of  the  Falkland  Islands, 
which  are  all  descended  from  a  few  brought  from  La 
Plata,  to  break  up  into  herds  of  three  different  colours, 
is  an  interesting  fact. 

Returning  to  the  several  British  breeds,  the  conspicuous 
difference  in  general  appearance  between  Short-horns, 
Long-horns  (now  rarely  seen),  Herefords,  Highland 
cattle,  Alderneys,  &c,  must  be  familiar  to  every  one. 
A  large  part  of  the  difference,  no  doubt,  may  be  due  to 
descent  from  primordially  distinct  species  ;  but  we  may 
feel  sure  that  there  has  been  in  addition  a  considerable 
amount  of  variation.     Even  during  the  Neolithic  period, 


a*  See  also  Mr.  Mackinnon's  pamphlet  on  the  Falkland  Islands,  p.  24. 


Chap.  III.  '    THEIR    VARIATION.  Ill 

the  domestic  cattle  were  not  actually  identical  with  the 
aboriginal  species.  "Within  recent  times  most  of  the 
breeds  have  been  modified  by  careful  and  methodical 
selection.  How  strongly  the  characters  thus  acquired 
are  inherited,  may  be  inferred  from  the  prices  realised 
by  the  improved  breeds ;  even  at  the  first  sale  of  Col- 
ling's  Short-horns,  eleven  bulls  reached  an  average  of 
214£,  and  lately  Short-horn  bulls  have  been  sold  for  a 
thousand  guineas,  and  have  been  exported  to  all  quarters 
of  the  world. 

Some  constitutional  differences  may  be  here  noticed. 
The  Short-horns  arrive  at  maturity  far  earlier  than  the 
wilder  breeds,  such  as  those  of  Wales  or  the  Highlands. 
This  fact  has  been  shown  in  an  interesting  manner  by  Mr. 
Simonds,"  who  has  given  a  table  of  the  average  period 
of  their  dentition,  which  proves  that  there  is  a  difference 
of  no  less  than  six  months  in  the  appearance  of  the  per- 
manent incisors.  The  period  of  gestation,  from  observa- 
tions made  by  Tessier  on  1131  cows,  varies  to  the  extent 
of  eighty-one  days ;  and  What  is  more  interesting,  M. 
Lefour  affirms  "  that  the  period  of  gestation  is  longer  in 
the  large  German  cattle  than  in  the  smaller  breeds."  68 
With  respect  to  the  period  of  conception,  it  seems  certain 
that  Alderney  and  Zetland*  cows  often  become  pregnant 
earlier  than  other  breeds.69  Lastly,  as  four  fully-deve- 
loped mammas  is  a  generic  character  in  the  genus  Bos,60 
it  is  worth  notice  that  with  our  domestic  cows  the  two 
rudimentary  mammas  often  become  fairly  well  develoj)ed 
and  yield  milk. 

As  numerous  breeds  are  generally  found  only  in  long- 
civilized  countries,  it  may  be  well  to  show  that  in  some 
countries  inhabited  by  barbarous  races,  who  are  frequently 


67  '  The  Age  of  the  Ox,  Sheep,  Pig,'  vations  from  Touatt  on  Cattle,  p.  527. 

4c,  by  Prof.  James  Simonds,  published  69  'The  Veterinary,'  vol.  viii.  p.  881, 

by  order  of  the  Royal  Agricult.  Soc.  and  vol.   x.   p.   26S.      Low's  '  Domest. 

88  '  Ann.     Agricult.     France,'    April,  Animals  of  Great  Britain,'  p.  297. 

1837,  as  quoted    in   'The    Veterinary,'  6<>  Mr.  Ogilby,  in  '  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,' 

vol.  xii.  p.  725.    I  quote  Tessier's  obser-  1836,  p.  138,  and  1840,  p.  4. 


112  CATTLE.  "  Chap.  IIL 

at  war  with  each  other  and  therefore  have  little  free  com- 
munication, several  distinct  breeds  of  cattle  now  exist  or 
formerly  existed.  At  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  Leguat 
observed,  in  the  year  1720,  three  kinds.61  At  the  present 
day  various  travellei's  have  noticed  the  differences  in  the 
breeds  in  Southern  Africa.  Sir  Andrew  Smith  several 
years  ago  remarked  to  me  that  the  cattle  possessed  by 
the  different  tribes  of  Caffres,  though  living  near  each 
other  under  the  same  latitude  and  in  the  same  kind  of 
country,  yet  differed,  and  he  expressed  much  surprise  at 
the  fact.  Mr.  Andersson  has  described  62  the  Damara, 
Bechuana,  and  Namaqua  cattle  ;  and  he  informs  me  in  a 
letter  that  the  cattle  north  of  Lake  Ngami  are  likewise 
different,  as  Mr.  Galton  has  heard  is  the  case  with  the 
cattle  of  Benguela.  The  Namaqua  cattle  in  size  and 
shape  nearly  resemble  European  cattle,  and  have  short 
stout  horns  and  large  hoofs.  The  Damara  cattle  are  very 
peculiar,  being  big-boned,  with  slender  legs  and  small 
hard  feet ;  their  lails  are  adorned  with  a  tuft  of  long 
bushy  hair  nearly  touching  the  ground,  and  their  horns 
are  extraordinarily  large.  The  Bechuana  cattle  have  even 
larger  horns,  and  there  is  now  a  skull  in  London  with  the 
two  horns  8  ft.  8£  in.  long,  as  measured  in  a  straight  line 
from  tip  to  tip,  and  no  less  tnan  13  ft.  5  in.,  as  measured 
along  their  curvature  !  Mr.  Andersson  in  his  letter  to  me 
says  that,  though  he  will  not  venture  to  describe  the 
differences  between  the  breeds  belonging  to  the  many 
different  sub-tribes,  yet  such  certainly  exist,  as  shown  by 
the  wonderful  facility  with  which  the  natives  discrimi- 
nate them. 

That  many  breeds  of  cattle  have  originated  through 
variation,  independently  of  descent  from  distinct  species, 
we  may  infer  from  what  we  see  in  South  America,  where 
the  genus  Bos  was  not  endemic,  and  where  the  cattle 


61  Leguat's  Voyage,  quoted  by  Vasey  e2  '  Travels  in  South  Africa,'  pp.  31T, 

in  his  '  Delineations  of  the  Ox-tribe,'  p.        836. 
182. 


Chap.  IIL  THEIR    VARIATION.  113 

which  now  exist  in  such  vast  numbers  are  the  descend- 
ants of  a  few  imported  from  Spain  and  Portugal.  In 
Columbia,  Roulin  63  describes  two  peculiar  breeds, 
namely,  pelones,  with  extremely  thin  and  fine  hair,  and 
calongos,  absolutely  naked.  According  to  Castelnau 
there  are  two  races  in  Brazil,  one  like  European  cattle, 
the  other  different,  with  remarkable  horns.  In  Paraguay, 
Azara  describes  a  breed  which  certainly  originated  in  S. 
America  called  chivos,  "  because  they  have  straight  ver- 
tical horns,  conical,  and  very  large  at  the  base."  He 
likewise  describes  a  dwarf  race  in  Corrientes,  with  short 
legs  and  a  body  larger  than  usual.  Cattle  without  horns, 
and  others  with  reversed  hair,  have  also  originated  in 
Paraguay. 

Another  monstrous  breed,  called  niatas  or  natas,  of 
which  I  saw  two  small  herds  on  the  northern  bank  of 
the  Plata,  is  so  remarkable  as  to  deserve  a  fuller  descrip- 
tion. This  breed  bears  the  same  relation  to  other  breeds, 
as  bull  or  pug  dogs  do  to  other  dogs,  or  as  improved 
pigs,  according  to  H.  von  Nathusius,  do  to  common 
pigs.64  Rutimeyer  believes  that  these  cattle  belong  to 
the  primigenius  type."  The  forehead  is  very  short  and 
broad,  with  the  nasal  end  of  the  skull,  together  with  the 
whole  plane  of  the  upper  molar-teeth,  curved  upwards. 
The  lower  jaw  projects  beyond  the  upper,  and  has  a 
corresponding  upward  curvature.  It  is  an  interesting 
fact  that  an  almost  similar  conformation  characterizes,  as 
I  have  been  informed  by  Dr.  Falconer,  the  extinct  and 


83  '  Mem.   de  l'lnstitut   present  par  not  form  a  distinct  race.     Prof.  Wyman, 

divers    Savans,'  torn,  vi.,  1835,  p.  333.  of  Cambridge,  United  States,  informs  me 

For  Brazil,  see  '  Comptes  Rendus,'  June  that  the  common   cod-fish     presents  a 

15th,   1846.     See  Azara,   '  Quadrupedes  similar  monstrosity,  called  by  the  fisher- 

du  Paraguay,'  torn.  ii.  pp.  359,  361.  men  the  "bulldog  cod."     Prof.  Wyman 

64    '  Schweineschadel,'    1864,    s.   104.  also  concluded,  after  making  numerous 

Nathusius  states  that  the  form  of  skull  inquiries  in   La  Plata,    that  the  niata 

characteristic  of  the  niata  cattle  occa-  cattle  transmit  their  peculiarities  or  form 

sionally   appears    in   European    cattle  ;  a  race. 

but  he  is  mistaken,  as  we  shall  hereafter  65  Ueber  Art  des  Zahmen  Europ.  Rin- 

see,  in  supposing   that  these  cattle  do  desj  1S66.  s.  2S. 


114  CATTLE.  Chap.  III. 

gigantic  Sivatherium  of  India,  and  is  not  known  in  any 
other  ruminant.  The  upper  lip  is  much  drawn  hack,  the 
nostrils  are  seated  high  up  and  are  widely  open,  the  eyes 
project  outwards,  and  the  horns  are  large.  In  walking 
the  head  is  carried  low,  and  the  neck  is  short.  The  hind 
legs  appear  to  he  longer,  compared  with  the  front  legs, 
than  is  usual.  The  exposed  incisor  teeth,  the  short  head 
and  upturned  nostrils,  give  these  cattle  the  most  ludi- 
crous, self-confident  air  of  defiance.  The  skull  which  I 
presented  to  the  College  of  Surgeons  has  been  thus  de- 
scribed by  Professor  Owen : 66  "  It  is  remarkable  from  the 
stunted  development  of  the  nasals,  premaxillaries,  and 
fore-part  of  the  lower  jaw,  which  is  unusually  curved  up- 
wards to  come  into  contact  with  the  premaxillaries.  The 
nasal  bones  are  about  one-third  the  ordinary  length,  but 
retain  almost  their  normal  breadth.  The  triangular  vacui- 
ty is  left  between  them,  the  frontal  and  lachrymal,  which 
latter  bone  articulates  with  the  premaxillary,  and  thus 
excludes  the  maxillary  from  any  junction  with  the  nasal." 
So  that  even  the  connexion  of  some  of  the  bones  is  chang- 
ed. Other  differences  might  be  added :  thus  the  plane  of 
the  condyles  is  somewhat  modified,  and  the  terminal  edge 
of  the  premaxillaries  forms  an  arch.  In  fact,  on  compari- 
son with  the  skull  of  a  common  ox,  scarcely  a  single  bone 
presents  the  same  exact  shape,  and  the  whole  skull  has  a 
wonderfully  different  appearance. 

The  first  brief  published  notice  of  this  race  was  by 
Azara,  between  the  years  1783-96  ;  but  Don  F.  Muniz,  of 
Luxan,  who  has  kindly  collected  information  for  me, 
states  that  about  1760  these  cattle  were  kept  as  curiosi- 
ties near  Buenos  Ayres.  Their  origin  is  not  positively 
known,  but  they  must  have  originated  subsequently  to 
the  year  1552,  when  cattle  were  first  introduced.  Signor 
Muniz  informs  me  that  the  breed  is  believed  to  have  ori- 


*•  'Descriptive  Cat.  of  Ost.  Collect,  of  has  given  a  figure  of  this  skull ;  and  I 
College  of  Surgeons,'  1S53  p.  624.  Vasey,  sent  a  photograph  of  it  to  Prof.  R&ti- 
in   his    '  Delineations  of  the  Ox-tribe  '        meyer. 


Chap.  IIL  CAUSES    OF    VARIATION.  115 

ginated  with  the  Indians  southward  of  the  Plata.  Even 
to  this  day  those  reared  near  the  Plata  show  their  less 
civilized  nature  in  being  fiercer  than  common  cattle,  and 
in  the  cow,  if  visited  too  often,  easily  deserting  her  first 
calf.  The  breed  is  very  true,  and  a  niata  bull  and  cow 
invariably  produce  niata  calves.  The  breed  has  already 
lasted  at  least  a  century.  A  niata  bull  crossed  with  a 
common  cow,  and  the  reverse  cross,  yield  offspring  hav- 
ing an  intermediate  character,  but  with  the  niata  cha- 
racter strongly  displayed.  According  to  Signor  Muniz, 
there  is  the  clearest  evidence,  contrary  to  the  common 
belief  of  agriculturists  in  analogous  cases,  that  the  niata 
cow  when  crossed  with  a  common  bull  transmits  her  pe- 
culiarities more  strongly  than  does  the  niata  bull  when 
crossed  with  a  common  cow.  When  the  pasture  is  toler- 
ably long,  these  cattle  feed  as  well  as  common  cattle  with 
their  tongue  and  palate;  but  during  the  great  droughts, 
when  so  many  animals  perish  on  the  Pampas,  the  niata 
breed  lies  under  a  great  disadvantage,  and  would,  if  not 
attended  to,  become  extinct ;  for  the  common  cattle,  like 
horses,  are  able  just  to  keep  alive  by  browsing  on  the 
twigs  of  trees  and  on  reeds  with  their  lips :  this  the  nia- 
tas  cannot  so  well  do,  as  their  lips  do  not  join,  and  hence 
they  are  found  to  perish  before  the  common  cattle.  This 
strikes  me  as  a  good  illustration  of  how  little  we  are  able 
to  judge  from  the  ordinary  habits  of  an  animal,  on  what 
circumstances,  occurring  only  at  long  intervals  of  time, 
its  rarity  or  extinction  may  depend.  It  shows  us,  also, 
how  natural  selection  would  have  determined  the  rejec- 
tion of  the  niata  modification  had  it  arisen  in  a  state  of 
nature. 

Having  described  the  semi-monstrous  niata  breed,  I 
may  allude  to  a  white  bull,  said  to  have  been  brought 
from  Africa,  which  was  exhibited  in  London  in  1829,  and 
which  has  been  well  figured  by  Mr.  Harvey."     It  had  a 

"Loudon's  'Magazine  of  Nat.  Hist.,'        given  of  the  animal,  its  hoofs,  eye,  and 
vol.  i.  1S29,  p.  113.     Separate  figures  are        dewlap. 


116  CATTLE.  Chap.  HI. 

hump,  and  was  furnished  with  a  mane.  The  dewlap  was 
peculiar,  being  divided  between  its  forelegs  into  parallel 
divisions.  Its  lateral  hoofs  were  annually  shed,  and 
grew  to  the  length  of  five  or  six  inches.  The  eye  was 
very  peculiar,  being  remarkably  prominent,  and  "  resem- 
bled a  cup  and  ball,  thus  enabling  the  animal  to  see  on 
all  sides  with  equal  ease ;  the  pupil  was  small  and  oval, 
or  rather  a  parallelogram  with  the  ends  cut  ofi",  and  ly- 
ing transversely  across  the  ball."  A  new  and  strange 
breed  might  probably  have  been  formed  by  careful  breed- 
ing and  selection  from  this  animal. 

I  have  often  speculated  on  the  probable  causes  through 
which  each  sepai-ate  district  in  Great  Britain  came  to  pos- 
sess in  former  times  its  own  peculiar  breed  of  cattle;  and 
the  question  is,  perhaps,  even  more  perplexing  in  the  case 
of  Southern  Africa.  We  now  know  that  the  differences 
may  be  in  part  attributed  to  descent  from  distinct  spe- 
cies ;  but  this  will  not  suffice.  Have  the  slight  differ- 
ences in  climate  and  in  the  nature  of  the  pasture,  in  the 
different  districts  of  Britain,  drrectly  induced  correspond- 
ing differences  in  the  cattle?  We  have  seen  that  the 
semi-wild  cattle  in  the  several  British  parks  are  not  iden- 
tical in  colouring  or  size,  and  that  some  degree  of  selection 
has  been  requisite  to  keep  them  true.  It  is  almost  cer- 
tain that  abundant  food  given  during  many  generations 
directly  affects  the  size  of  a  breed.68  That  climate  di- 
rectly affects  the  thickness  of  the  skin  and  the  hair  is 
likewise  certain  ;  thus  Roulin  asserts68  that  the  hides  of 
the  feral  cattle  on  the  hot  Llanos  "  are  always  much  less 
heavy  than  those  of  the  cattle  raised  on  the  high  plat- 
form of  Bogota ;  and  that  these  hides  yield  in  weight 
and  in  thickness  of  hair  to  those  of  the  cattle  which  have 
run  wild  on  the  lofty  Paramos."  The  same  difference  has 
been  observed  in  the  hides  of  the  cattle  reared  on  the 


•8  Low,  '  Domesticated  Annuals  of  the  69 '  Mem.  de  l'lnstitut  present,  par  di- 

British  Isles,'  p.  2(54.  vers  Savans,'  torn,  vi.,  1835,  p.  882. 


Chap.  III.  CAUSES    OF    VARIATION.  117 

bleak  Falkland  Islands  and  on  the  temperate  Pampas. 
Low  has  remarked  70  that  the  cattle  which  inhabit  the 
more  humid  parts  of  Britain  have  longer  hair  and  thicker 
skins  than  other  British  cattle  ;  and  the  hair  and  horns 
are  so  closely  related  to  each  other,  that,  as  we  shall  see 
in  a  future  chapter,  they  are  apt  to  vary  together ;  thus 
climate  might  indirectly  affect,  through  the  skin,  the 
form  and  size  of  the  horns.  When  we  compare  highly 
improved  stall-fed  cattle  with  the  wilder  breeds,  or  com- 
pare mountain  and  lowland  breeds,  Ave  cannot  doubt  that 
an  active  life,  leading  to  the  free  use  of  the  limbs  and 
lungs,  affects  the  shape  and  proportions  of  the  whole 
body.  It  is  probable  that  some  breeds,  such  as  the  semi- 
monstrous  niata  cattle,  and  some  peculiarities,  such  as 
being  hornless,  &c,  have  appeared  suddenly  from  what 
we  may  call  a  spontaneous  variation ;  but  even  in  this 
case  a  rude  kind  of  selection  is  necessary,  and  the  ani- 
mals thus  characterized  must  be  at  least  partially  sepa- 
rated from  others.  This  degree  of  care,  however,  has 
sometimes  been  taken  even  in  little-civilized  districts, 
where  we  should  least  have  expected  it,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  niata,  chivo,  and  hornless  cattle  in  S.  America. 

That  methodical  selection  has  done  wonders  within  a 
recent  period  in  modifying  our  cattle,  no  one  doubts. 
During  the  process  of  methodical  selection  it  has  occa- 
sionally happened  that  deviations  of  structure,  more 
strongly  pronounced  than  mere  individual  differences, 
yet  by  no  means  deserving  to  be  called  monstrosities, 
have  been  taken  advantage  of:  thus  the  famous  Long- 
horn  Bull,  Shakespeare,  though  of  the  pure  Canley  stock, 
"scarcely  inherited  a  single  point  of  the  long-horned 
breed,  his  horns  excepted  ;  "  yet  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Fow- 
ler, this  bull  greatly  improved  his  race.  We  have  also 
reason  to  believe  that  selection,  carried  on  so  far  uncon- 


70  Idem,  pp.  804,  36S,  &c.  count  of  this  bull  is  taken  from  Mar- 

71  Youatt  on  Cattle,  p.  193.    A  full  ac-        shall. 


118  CATTLE.  Chap.  HI. 

sciously  that  thei-e  was  at  no  one  time  any  distinct  intention 
to  improve  or  change  the  breed,  has  in  the  course  of  time 
modified  most  of  our  cattle  ;  for  by  this  process,  aided  by 
more  abundant  food,  all  the  lowland  British  breeds  have 
increased  greatly  in  size  and  in  early  maturity  since  the 
reign  of  Henry  VII.72  It  should  never  be  forgotten  that 
many  animals  have  to  be  annually  slaughtered  ;  so  that 
each  owner  must  determine  which  shall  be  killed  and 
which  preserved  for  breeding.  In  every  district,  as  You- 
att  has  remarked,  there  is  a  prejudice  in  favor  of  the  na- 
tive breed  ;  so  that  animals  possessing  qualities,  whatever 
they  may  be,  which  are  most  valued  in  each  district,  will 
be  oftenest  preserved  ;  and  this  unmethodical  selection 
assuredly  will  in  the  long  run  affect  the  character  of  the 
whole  breed.  But  it  may  be  asked,  can  this  rude  kind  of 
selection  have  been  practised  by  barbarians  such  as  those 
of  southern  Africa  ?  In  a  future  chapter  on  Selection  we 
shall  see  that  this  has  certainly  occurred  to  some  extent. 
Therefore,  looking  to  the  origin  of  the  many  breeds  of 
cattle  which  formerly  inhabited  the  several  districts  of 
Britain,  I  conclude  that,  although  slight  differences  in  the 
nature  of  the  climate,  food,  &c,  as  well  as  changed  habits 
of  life,  aided  by  correlation  of  growth,  and  the  occasional 
appearance  from  unknown  causes  of  considerable  devia- 
tions of  structure,  have  all  probably  played  their  parts ;  yet 
that  the  occasional  preservation  in  each  district  of  those 
individual  animals  which  were  most  valued  by  each  own- 
er has  perhaps  been  even  more  effective  in  the  production 
of  the  several  British  breeds.  As  soon  as  two  or  more 
breeds  had  once  been  formed  in  any  district,  or  when 
new  breeds  descended  from  distinct  species  Avere  intro- 
duced, their  crossing,  especially  if  aided  by  some  selec- 
tion, will  have  multiplied  the  number  and  modified  the 
characters  of  the  older  breeds. 


72  Youatt  on  Cattle,  \i.  116.    Lord  Spencer  has  written  on  this  same  subject. 


Chap.  III.  SHEEP  I     THEIR    VARIATION.  119 


Sheep. 

I  shall  treat  this  subject  briefly.  Most  authors  look  at 
our  domestic  sheep  as  descended  from,  several  distinct 
species  ;  but  how  many  still  exist  is  doubtful.  Mr.  Blyth 
believes  that  there  are  in  the  whole  world  fourteen  spe- 
cies, one  of  which,  the  Corsican  moufflon,  he  concludes 
(as  I  am  informed  by  him)  to  be  the  parent  of  the  small- 
er, short-tailed  breeds,  with  crescent-shaped  horns,  such 
as  the  old  Highland  sheep.  The  larger,  long-tailed  breeds, 
having  horns  with  a  double  flexure,  such  as  the  Dorsets, 
merinos,  &c,  he  believes  to  be  descended  from  an  un- 
known and  extinct  species.  M.  Gervais  makes  six  species 
of  Ovis  ;73  but  concludes  that  our  domestic  sheep  form  a 
distinct  genus,  now  completely  extinct.  A  German  na- 
turalist74 believes  that  our  sheep  descend  from  ten  abo- 
riginally distinct  species,  of  which  only  one  is  still  living 
in  a  wild  state  !  Another  ingenious  observer,75  though 
not  a  naturalist,  with  a  bold  defiance  of  everything 
known  on  geographical  distribution,  infers  that  the  sheep 
of  Great  Britain  alone  are  the  descendants  of  eleven  en- 
demic British  forms  !  Under  such  a  hopeless  state  of 
doubt  it  would  be  useless  for  my  purpose  to  give  a  de- 
tailed account  of  the  several  breeds ;  but  a  few  remarks 
may  b.e  added. 

Sheep  have  been  domesticated  from  a  very  ancient  pe- 
riod. Rutimeyer76  found  in  the  Swiss  lake-dwellings  the 
remains  of  a  small  breed,  with  thin  and  tall  legs,  and  with 
horns  like  those  of  a  goat :  this  race  differs  somewhat 
from  any  one  now  known.     Almost  every  country  has  its 


73  Blyth  on  the  genus  Ovis,  in  'An-  74  Dr.  L.  Fitzinger,  'Ueber  die  Racen 
nals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.  History,'  vol.  vii.,  des  Zahmen  Schafes,'  1S60,  s.  86. 
1841,  p.  261  :  with  respect  to  the  parent-  75  J.  Anderson,  '  Recreations  in  Agri- 
age  of  the  breeds,  see  Mr.  Blyth's  excel-  culture  and  Natural  History,'  vol.  ii.  p. 
lent  articles  in  '  Land  and  Water,'  1S67,  164. 

pp.  184,156.    Gervais,  '  Hist.   Nat.  des  78  '  Pfahlbauten,'  s.  127,  193. 
Mammiferes,'  1S55,  torn.  ii.  pT  191. 


120  SHEEP.  Chap.  III. 

own  peculiar  breed  ;  and  many  countries  have  many 
breeds  differing  greatly  from  each  other.  One  of  the 
most  strongly  marked  races  is  an  Eastern  one  with  a  long 
tail,  including,  according  to  Pallas,  twenty  vertebrae,  and 
so  loaded  with  fat,  that,  from  being  esteemed  a  delicacy, 
it  is  sometimes  placed  on  a  truck  which  is  dragged  about 
by  the  living  animal.  These  sheep,  though  ranked  by 
Fitzinger  as  a  distinct  aboriginal  form,  seem  to  bear  in 
their  drooping  ears  the  stamp  of  long  domestication. 
This  is  likewise  the  case  with  those  sheep  which  have  two 
great  masses  of  fat  on  the  rump,  with  the  tail  in  a  rudi- 
mentary condition.  The  Angola  variety  of  the  long-tailed 
race  has  curious  masses  of  fat  on  the  back  of  the  head  and 
beneath  the  jaws.77  Mr.  Hodgson  in  an  admirable  paper  78 
on  the  sheep  of  the  Himalaya  infers  from  the  distribution 
of  the  several  races,  "  that  this  caudal  augmentation  in 
most  of  its  phases  is  an  instance  of  degeneracy  in  these 
pre-eminently  Alpine  animals."  The  horns  present  an 
endless  diversity  in  character;  being,  especially  in  the 
female  sex,  not  rarely  absent,  or,  on  the  other  hand, 
amounting  to  four  or  even  eight  in  number.  The  horns, 
when  numerous,  arise  from  a  crest  on  the  frontal  bone, 
which  is  elevated  in  a  peculiar  manner.  It  is  remarkable 
that  multiplicity  of  horns  "  is  generally  accompanied  by 
great  length  and  coarseness  of  the  fleece."  79  This  corre- 
lation, however,  is  not  invariable  ;  for  I  am  informed  by 
Mr.  D.  Forbes,  that  the  Spanish  sheep  in  Chile  resemble, 
in  fleece  and  in  all  other  characters,  their  parent  merino- 
race,  except  that  instead  of  a  pair  they  generally  bear  four 
horns.  The  existence  of  a  pair  of  mammae  is  a  generic 
character  in  the  genus  Ovis  as  well  as  in  several  allied 
forms  ;  nevertheless,  as  Mr.  Hodgson  has  remarked,  "  this 
character  is  not  absolutely  constant  even  among  the  true 
and  proper  sheep  :  for  I  have  more  than  once  met  with 


«  Touatt  on  Sheep,  p.  120.  gal,*  vol.  xvi.  pp.  1007,  1016. 

T8  'Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Soc.  of  Ben-  '»  Youatt  on  Sheep,  pp.  142-169, 


Chap.  III.  TIIEII1    VARIATION.  121 

Cagias  (a  sub-Himalayan  domestic  race)  possessed  of  four 

teats." eo  This  case  is  the  more  remarkable  as,  when  any 
part  or  organ  is  present  in  reduced  number  in  comparison 
with  the  same  part  in  allied  groups,  it  usually  is  subject 
to  little  variation.  The  presence  of  interdigital  pits  has 
likewise  been  considered  as  a  generic  distinction  in  sheep  ; 
but  Isidore  Geoffroy 81  has  shown  that  these  pits  or  pouch- 
es are  absent  in  some  breeds. 

In  sheep  there  is  a  strong  tendency  for  characters, 
which  have  apparently  been  acquired  under  domestica- 
tion, to  become  attached  either  exclusively  to  the  male 
sex,  or  to  be  more  highly  developed  in  this  than  in  the 
other  sex.-  Thus  in  many  breeds  the  horns  are  deficient 
in  the  ewe,  though  this  likewise  occurs  occasionally  with 
the  female  of  the  wild  musmon.  In  the  rams  of  the 
Wallachian  breed  "the  htfrns  spring  almost  perpendicu- 
larly from  the  frontal  bone,  and  then  take  a  beautiful 
spiral  form;  in  the  ewes  they  protrude  nearly  at  right 
angles  from  the  head,  and  then  become  twisted  in  a 
singular  manner." ea  Mr.  Hodgson  states  that  the  extra- 
ordinarily arched  nose  or  chaffron,  which  is  so  highly 
developed  in  several  foreign  breeds,  is  characteristic  of 
the  ram  alone,  and  apparently  is  the  result  of  domestica- 
tion." I  hear  from  Mr.  Blyth  that  the  accumulation  of 
fat  in  the  fat-tailed  sheep  of  the  plains  of  India  is  greater 
in  the  male  than  in  the  female ;  and  Fitzinger  84  remarks 
that  the  mane  in  the  African  maned  race  is  far  more 
developed  in  the  ram  than  in  the  ewe. 

Different  races  of  sheep,  like  cattle,  present  constitu- 
tional differences.  Tims  the  improved  breeds  arrive  at 
maturity  at  an  early  ago,  as  has  been  well  shown  by  Mr. 
Simonds  through  their  early  average  period  of  dentition. 
The  several  races  have  become  adapted  to  different  kinds 


80  '  Journal  Asiat.  Soc.  of  Bengal,'  vol.  83  'Journal  Asiat.  Soc.  of  Bengal.'  vol. 

jcvi.,  1S47,  p.  1015.  xvi.,  1S47,  pp.  1015,  101G. 

•'  '  Hist.  Nat.  Gen.,'  torn.  III.  p.  435.  Bi  'Racen  des  Zahmen  Schafes,'  s.  7f, 
M  Youatt  on  Sheep,  p.  138. 

G 


122  SHEEP.  Chap.  III. 

of  pasture  and  climate :  for  instance,  no  one  can  rear 
Leicester  sheep  on  mountainous  regions,  where  Cheviots 
flourish.  As  Youatt  has  remarked,  "in  all  the  different 
districts  of  Great  Britain  we  find  various  breeds  of  sheep 
beautifully  adapted  to  the  locality  which  they  occupy. 
No  one  knows  their  origin ;  they  are  indigenous  to  the 
soil,  climate,  pasturage,  and  the  locality  on  which  they 
graze  ;  they  seem  to  have  been  formed  for  it  and  by  it."  8S 
Marshall  relates86  that  a  flock  of  heavy  Lincolnshire  and 
light  Norfolk  sheep  which  had  been  bred  together  in  a 
large  sheep-walk,  part  of  which  was  low,  rich,  and  moist, 
and  another  part  high  and  dry,  with  benty  grass,  when 
turned  out,  regularly  separated  from  each  other ;  the 
heavy  sheep  drawing  off  to  the  rich  soil,  and  the  lighter 
sheep  to  their  own  soil ;  so  that  "  whilst  there  was  plenty 
of  grass  the  two  breeds  kept  themselves  as  distinct  as 
rooks  and  pigeons."  Numerous  sheep  from  various  parts 
of  the  world  have  been  brought  during  a  long  course  of 
years  to  the  Zoological  Gardens  of  London ;  but  as 
Youatt,  who  attended  the  animals  as  a  veterinary  sm*geon, 
remarks,  "  few  or  none  die  of  the  rot,  but  they  are 
phthisical ;  not  one  of  them  from  a  torrid  climate  lasts 
out  the  second  year,  and  when  they  die  their  lungs  are 
tuberculated."  87  Even  in  certain  parts  of  England  it  has 
been  found  impossible  to  keep  certain  breeds  of  sheep ; 
thus  on  a  farm  on  the  banks  of  the  Ouse,  the  Leicester 
sheep  were  so  rapidly  desti'oyed  by  pleuritis 88  that  the 
owner  could  not  keep  them ;  the  coarser-skinned  sheep 
never  being  affected. 

The  period  of  gestation  was  formerly  thought  to  be  so 
unalterable  a  character,  that  a  supposed  difference  be- 
tween the  wolf  and  the  dog  in  this  respect  w#s  esteemed 


85  '  Rural  Economy  of  Norfolk,'  vol.  periments  in  crossing  Cheviot  sheep  with 
ii.  p.  136.  Leicesters,  see  Youatt,  p.  325. 

86  Youatt  on  Sheep,  p.  31?.    On  same  87  Youatt  on  Sheep,  note,  p.  491. 
subject,  see  excellent  remarks  in  ' Gar-  88  'The  Veterinary,' vol.  x., p.  217. 
dner's  Chronicle,'  1S5S,  p.  868.     For  ex- 


Chap.  III.  THEIR    VARIATION.'  123 

a  sure  sign  of  specific  distinction;  but  we  have  seen  that 
the  period  is  shorter  in  the  improved  breeds  of  the  pig, 
and  in  the  larger  breeds  of  the  ox,  than  in  other  breeds 
of  these  two  animals.  And  now  we  know,  on  the  excel- 
lent authority  of  Hermann  von  Nathusius,"  that  Merino 
and  Southdown  sheep,  when  both  have  long  been  kept 
under  exactly  the  same  conditions,  differ  in  their  average 
period  of  gestation,  as  is  seen  in  the  following  Table : — 

Merinos 1503  days. 

Southdowns      . .      . .  144.2     „ 

Half-bred  Merinos  and  Southdowns    . .  1463      „ 

£  blood  of  Southdown 1455      „ 

*  „  „  144-3     » 

In  this  graduated  difference,  in  these  cross-bred  animals 
having  different  proportions  of  Southdown  blood,  we  see 
how  strictly  the  two  periods  of  gestation  have  been  trans- 
mitted. Nathusius  remarks  that,  as  Southdowns  grow 
with  remarkable  rapidity  after  birth,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  their  fetal  development  should  have  been  shortened. 
It  is  of  course  possible  that  the  difference  in  these  two 
breeds  may  be  due  to  their  descent  from  distinct  parent- 
species  ;  but  as  the  early  maturity  of  the  Southdowns  has 
long  been  carefully  attended  to  by  breeders,  the  differ- 
ence is  more  probably  the  result  of  such  attention.  Lastly, 
the  fecundity  of  the  several  breeds  differs  much :  some 
generally  producing  twins  or  even  triplets  at  a  birth,  of 
which  fact  the  curious  Shangai  sheep  (with  their  trunca- 
ted and  rudimentary  ears,  and  great  Roman  noses),  lately 
exhibited  in  the  Zoological  Gardens,  offer  a  remarkable 
instance. 

Sheep  are  perhaps  more  readily  affected  by  the  direct 
action  of  the  conditions  of  life  to  which  they  have  been 
exposed  than  almost  any  other  domestic  animal.  Ac- 
cording to  Pallas,  and  more  recently  according  to  Erman, 


*•  A  translation  of  his  paper  is  given  in  '  Bull.  Soc.  Imp.  d'Acclimat.,'  torn,  ix.,  1862, 
p.  723. 


124  SHEEP.  Chap.  III. 

the  fat-tailed  Kirghisian  sheep,  when  bred  for  a  few  gen- 
erations in  Russia,  degenerate,  and  the  mass  of  fat  dwin- 
dles away,  "  the  scanty  and  bitter  herbage  of  the  steppes 
seems  so  essential  to  their  development."  Pallas  makes 
an  analogous  statement  with  respect  to  one  of  the  Crimean 
breeds.  Burnes  states  that  the  Karakool  breed,  which 
produces  a  fine,  curled,  black,  and  valuable  fleece,  when 
removed  from  its  own  canton  near  Bokhara  to  Persia,  or  to 
other  quarters,  loses  its  peculiar  fleece.90  In  all  such  cases, 
however,  it  may  be  that  a  change  of  any  kind  in  the  con- 
ditions of  life  causes  variability  and  consequent  loss  of 
character,  and  not  that  certain  conditions  are  necessary 
for  the  development  of  certain  characters. 

'  Great  heat,  however,  seems  to  act  directly  on  the  fleece  : 
several  accounts  have  been  published  of  the  change  which 
sheep  imported  from  Europe  undergo  in  the  West  Indies. 
Dr.  Nicholson  of  Antigua  informs  me  that,  after  the  third 
generation,  the  wool  disappears  from  the  whole  body, 
except  over  the  loins ;  and  the  animal  then  appears  like  a 
goat  with  a  dirty  door-mat  on  its  back.  A  similar  change 
is  said  to  take  place  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa.91  On 
the  other  hand,  many  wool-bearing  sheep  live  on  the  hot 
plains  of  India.  Roulin  asserts  that  in  the  lower  and 
heated  valleys  of  the  Cordillera,  if  the  lambs  are  sheared 
as  soon  as  the  wool  has  grown  to  a  certain  thickness,  all 
goes  on  afterwards  as  usual ;  but  if  not  sheared,  the  wool 
detaches  itself  in  flakes,  and  short  shining  hair  like. that 
on  a  goat  is  produced  ever  afterwards.  This  curious  re- 
sult seems  merely  to  be  an  exaggerated  tendency  natural 


80  Erman's  'Travels  in  Siberia'  (Eng.  91  See  Report  of  the  Directors  of  the 

trans.),  vol.  i.  p.  228.    For  Pallas  on  the  Sierra  Leone    Company,   as    quoted  in 

fat-tailed  sheep,  I  quote  from  Anderson's  White's  '  Gradation  of  Man,'  p.  95.   With 

account  of  the  '  Sheep  of  Russia,'  1794,  respect  to  the  change  which  sheep  un- 

p.  34.  With  respect  to  the  Crimean  sheep,  dergo  in  the  West  Indies,  see  also  Dr. 

see  Pallas'  '  Travels  '  (Eng.  trans.),  vol.  Davy,  ia  '  Edin.  New.  Phil.  Journal,'  Jan. 

ii.  p.  454.    For  the  Karakool  sheep,  see  1852.   For  the  statement  made  by  Roulin, 

Burnes'  'Travels  in  Bokhara,'  vol.  iii.  p.  see  '  Mem.  de  l'lnstitut  present,  par  di- 

151.  vers  Savans,'  torn,  vi.,  1&35,  p.  347. 


Chap  III.  CAUSES    OF    VARIATION.  125 

to  the  Merino  breed,  for  as  a  great  authority,  namely, 
'Lord  Somerville,  remarks,  "  the  wool  of»our  Merino  sheep 
after  shear-time  is  hard  and  coarse  to  such  a  degree  as  to 
render  it  almost  impossible  to  suppose  that  the  same  ani- 
mal could  bear  wool  so  opposite  in  quality,  compared  to 
that  which  has  been  clipped  from  it :  as  the  cold  weather 
advances,  the  fleeces  recover  their  soft  quality."  As  in 
sheep  of  all  breeds  the  fleece  naturally  consists  of  longer 
and  coarser  hair  covering-  shorter  and  softer  wool,  the 
change  which  it  often  undergoes  in  hot  climates  is  proba- 
bly merely  a  case  of  unequal  development;  for  even  with 
those  sheep  which  like  goats  are  covered  with  hair,  a 
small  quantity  of  underlying  wool  may  always  be  found.93 
In  the  wild  mountain-sheep  (Ovis  montana)  of  North 
America  there  is  an  annual  analogous  change  of  coat ; 
"the  wool  begins  to  drop  out  in  early  spring,  leaving  in 
its  place  a  coat  of  hair  resembling  that  of  the  elk,  a 
change  of  pelage  quite  different  in  character  from  the  or- 
dinary thickening  of  the  coat  or  hair,  common  to  all  furred 
animals  in  winter, — for  instance,  in  the  horse,  the  cow, 
&c,  which  shed  their  winter  coat  in  the  spring."  93 

A  slight  difference  in  climate  or  pasture  sometimes 
slightly  affects  the  fleece,  as  has  been  observed  even  in 
different  districts  in  England,  and  as  is  well  shown  by 
the  great  softness  of  the  wool  brought  from  Southern 
Australia.  But  it  should  be  observed,  as  Youatt  repeat- 
edly insists,  that  the  tendency  to  change  may  generally 
be  counteracted  by  cai'eful  selection.  M.  Lasterye,  after 
discussing  this  subject,  sums  up  as  follows :  "  The  preser- 
vation of  the  Merino  race  in  its  utmost  purity  at  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  in  the  marshes  of  Holland,  and  under  the 
rigorous  climate  of  Sweden,  furnishes  an  additional  sup- 


92  Youatt  on  Sheep,  p.  69,  where  Lord  tendency  to  change,  see  pp.  70, 117, 120, 

Somerville  is  quoted.     See  p.  117,  on  the  168. 

presence  of  wool  under  the  hair.  With  93  Audubon  and  Bachman,'  The  Quad- 
respect  to  the  fleeces  of  Australian  sheep,  rupeds  of  North  America,'  1S46,  vol.  v. 
p.  135.     On  selection  counteracting  any  p.  365. 


126  SHEEP.  Chap.  III. 

port  of  this  ray  unalterable  principle,  that  fine-wooled 
sheep  may  be  kept  wherever  industrious  men  and  intelli- 
gent breeders  exist." 

That  methodical  selection  has  effected  great  changes 
in  several  breeds  of  sheep  no  one.  who  knows  anything 
on  the  subject,  entertains  a  doubt. .  The  case  of  the  South- 
downs,  as  improved  by  Ellman,  offers  perhaps  the  most 
striking  instance.  Unconscious  or  occasional  selection 
has  likewise  slowly  produced  a  great  effect,  as  we  shall 
see  in  the  chapters  on  Selection.  That  crossing  has  large- 
ly modified  some  breeds,  no  one  who  will  study  what  has 
been  written  on  this  subject — for  instance,  Mr.  Spooner's 
paper — will  dispute  ;  but  to  produce  uniformity  in  a 
crossed  breed,  careful  selection  and  "  rigorous  weeding," 
as  thisauthor  expresses  it,  are  indispensable.84 

In  some  few  instances  new  breeds  have  suddenly  ori- 
ginated ;  thus,  in  1791,  a  ram-lamb  was  born  in  Massachu- 
setts, having  short  crooked  legs  and  a  long  back,  like  a 
turnspit-dog.  From,  this  one  lamb  the  otter  or  ancon 
genii-monstrous  breed  was  raised ;  as  these  sheep  could 
not  leap  over  the  fences,  it  was  thought  that  they  would 
be  valuable ;  but  they  have  been  supplanted  by  merinos, 
and  thus  exterminated.  These  sheep  are  remarkable  from 
transmitting  their  character  so  truly  that  Colonel  Hum- 
phreys95 never  heard  of  "but  one  questionable  case  "  of 
an  ancon  ram  and  ewe  not  producing  ancon  offspring. 
"When  they  are  crossed  with  other  breeds  the  offspring, 
with  rare  exceptions,  instead  of  being  intermediate  in 
character,  perfectly  resemble  either  parent;  and  this  has 
occurred  even  in  the  case  of  twins.  Lastly,  "the  ancons 
have  been  observed  to  keep  together,  separating  them- 
selves from  the  rest  of  the  flock  when  put  into  enclosures 
with  other  sheep."  • 

A  more  interesting  case  has  been  recorded  in  the  Re- 


84  'Journal  of  R.  Agricult.  Soc  of  Eng-  e5  '  Phllosoph.  Transactions,1  London, 

land,'  vol.  rfx.,  part  ii.  W.  C  Spooner  on        1S13,  p.  88. 
Cross-Breeding. 


Chap.  III.  GOATS.  127 

port  of  the  Juries  for  the  Great  Exhibition  (1851),  namely, 
the  production  of  a  merino  ram-lamb  on  the  Mauchamp 
farm,  in  1828,  whicTi  was  remarkable  for  its  long;,  smooth, 
straight,  and  silky  wool.  By  the  year  1833  M.  Graux 
had  raised  rams  enough  to  serve  his  whole  flock,  and  after 
a  few  more  years  he  was  able  to  sell  stock  of  his  new 
breed.  So  peculiar  and  valuable  is  the  wool,  that  it  sells 
at  25  per  cent,  above  the  best  merino  wool :  even  the 
fleeces  of  half-bred  animals  are  valuable,  and  are  known 
in  France  as  the  "Mauchamp-merino."  It  is  interesting, 
as  showing  how  generally  any  marked  deviation  of  struc- 
ture is  accompanied  by  other  deviations,  that  the  first 
ram  and  his  immediate  offspring  were  of  small  size,  with 
large  heads,  long  necks,  narrow  chests,  and  long  flanks  ; 
but  these  blemishes  were  removed  by  judicious  crosses 
and  selection.  The  long  smooth  wool  was  also  correlated 
with  smooth  horns ;  and  as  horns  and  hair  are  homolo- 
gous structures,  Ave  can  understand  the  meaning  of  this 
correlation.  If  the  Mauchamp  and  ancon  breeds  had 
originated  a  century  or  two  ago,  we  should  have  had  no 
record  of  their  birth  ;  and  many  a  naturalist  would  no 
doubt  have  insisted,  especially  in  the  case  of  the  Mau- 
champ race,  that  they  had  each  descended  from,  or  been 
crossed  with,  some  unknown  aboriginal  form. 

Goats. 

From  the  recent  researches  of  M.  Brandt,  most  natural- 
ists now  believe  that  all  our  goats  are  descended  from 
the  Capra  cegagrus  of  the  mountains  of  Asia,  possibly 
mingled  with  the  allied  Indian  species  C.  Falconeri  of 
India.98  In  Switzerland,  during  the  early  Stone  period, 
the  domestic  goat  was  commoner  than  the  sheep;  and 


88  Isidore  GeoflYoy  St.  Hilaire,  '  Hist.  he  thinks    that   certain    Eastern    races 

Nat.   Generale,'   torn.   Hi.   p.  87.     Mr.  may  perhaps  be  in  part  descended  from 

Blyth  ('Land  and  Water,'  1S67,  p.  87)  the  Asiatic  markhor. 
has  arrived  at  a  similar  conclusion,  but 


128  GOATS.  Chap.  III. 

this  very  ancient  race  differed  in  no  respect  from  that 
now  common  in  Switzerland.97  At  the  present  time,  the 
many  races  found  in  several  parts  of  the  world  differ 
greatly  from  each  other ;  nevertheless,  as  far  as  they 
have  been  tried,98  they  are  all  quite  fertile  when  crossed. 
So  numerous  are  the  breeds,  that  Mr.  G.  Clark9,9  has 
described  eight  distinct  kinds  imported  into  the  one 
island  of  Mauritius.  The  ears  of  one  kind  were  enor- 
mously developed,  being,  as  measured  by  Mr.  Clark,  no 
less  than  19  inches  in  length  and  4-f  inches  in  breadth. 
As  with  cattle,  the  raammse  of  those  breeds  which  are 
regularly  milked  become  greatly  developed ;  and,  as  Mr. 
Clark  remarks,  "  it  is  not  rare  to  see  their  teats  touching 
the  ground."  The  following  cases  are  worth  notice  as 
presenting  unusual  points  of  variation.  According  to 
Godron,100  the  mamma?  differ  greatly  in  shape  in  different 
breeds,  being  elongated  in  the  common  goat,  hemisphe- 
rical in  the  Angora  race,  and  bilobed  and  divergent  in 
the  goats  of  Syria  and  Nubia.  According  to  this  same 
author,  the  males  of  certain  breeds  have  lost  their  usual 
offensive  odom\  In  one  of  the  Indian  breeds  the  males 
and  females  have  horns  of  widely-different  shapes; I01  and 
in  some  breeds  the  females  are  destitute  of  horns.102  The 
presence  of  interdigital  pits  or  glands  on  all  four  feet 
has  been  thought  to  characterise  the  genus  Ovis,  and 
their  absence  to  be  characteristic  of  the  genus  Capra ; 
but  Mr.  Hodgson  has  found  that  they  exist  in  the  front 


97  Riitimeyer,  '  Pfahlbauten,'  s.  127.  the  Muscat  breed  purchased  at  a  high 

98  Godron,  '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.   i.  p.  price  for  a  female  in  full  milk.     These 
402.  differences  in  the  scrotum  are  probably 

99  '  Annals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.  History,'  not  due  to  descent  from  distinct  species  ; 
vol.  ii.  (2nd  series),  1843,  p.  363.  for  Mr.  Clark  states  that  this  part  varies 

ioo  '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  i.  p.  406.     Mr.  much  in  form. 

Clark   also  refers  to  differences  in  the  m  Mr.  Clark,  '  Annate  and  Mag.  of 

shape  of  the  mammas.     Godron  states  Nat.  Hist.,'  vol.  ii.  (2nd  series),  1S48,  p. 

that  in  the  Nubian  race  the  scrotum  is  861. 

divided  into  two  lobes;  and  Mr.  Clark  I02  Desmarest,    '  Encyclop.     Method, 

gives  a  ludicrous  proof  of  this  fact,  for  Mammalogie,'  p.  430. 
he  saw  in  the  Mauritius  a  male  goat  of 


Chap.  III.  GOATS.  ]  29 

feet  of  the  majority  of  Himalayan  goats.103  Mr.  Hodg- 
son measured  the  intestines  in  two  goats  of  the  Dugu 
race,  and  he  found  that  the  proportional  length  of  the 
great  and  small  intestines  differed  considerably.  In  one 
of  these  goats  the  coecum  was  thirteen  inches,  and  in  the 
other  no  less  than  thirty-six  inches  in  length ! 


i"  '  Journal  of  Asiatic  Soc.  of  Bengal,'  vol.  xvi.,  1S17,  pp.  1020, 1025. 


130  DOMESTIC    BABBITS.  Chat.  IV. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

DOMESTIC    RABBITS. 

DOMESTIC  RABBITS  DESCENDED  FROM  THE  COMMON  WILD  BAB- 
BIT—  ANCIENT  DOMESTICATION  —  ANCIENT  SELECTION  —  LARGE 
LOP-EARED  RABBITS — VARIOUS  BREEDS  —  FLUCTUATING  CHA- 
RACTERS —  ORIGIN  OF  THE  HIMALAYAN  BREED  —  CURIOUS  CASE 
OF  INHERITANCE  —  FERAL  RABBITS  IN  JAMAICA  AND  THE  FALK- 
LAND ISLANDS  —  PORTO  SANTO  FERAL  RABBITS  —  OSTEOLOGICAL 
CHARACTERS  —  SKULL  — SKULL  OF  HALF-LOP  RABBITS  —  VARIA- 
TIONS IN  THE  SKULL  ANALOGOUS  TO  DIFFERENCES  IN  DIFFER- 
ENT SPECIES  OF  HARES  —  VERTEBRAE  —  STERNUM  —  SCAPULA 
—  EFFECTS  OF  USE  AND  DISUSE  ON  THE  PROPORTIONS  OF  THE 
LIMBS  AND  BODY  —  CAPACITY  OF  THE  SKULL  AND  REDUCED 
SIZE  OF  THE  BRAIN  —  SUMMARY  ON  THE  MODIFICATIONS  OF 
DOMESTICATED    RABBITS. 

All  naturalists,  with,  as  far  as  I  know,  a  single  exception, 
believe  that  the  several  domestic  breeds  of  the  rabbit  are 
descended  from  the.  common  wild  species  ;  I  shall  there- 
fore describe  them  more  carefully  than  in  the  previous 
cases.  Professor  Gervais  '  states  "  that  the  true  wild  rab- 
bit is  smaller  than  the  domestic ;  its  proportions  are  not 
absolutely  the  same ;  its  tail  is  smaller ;  its  ears  are  shorter 
and  more  thickly  clothed  with  hair  ;  and  these  characters, 
without  speaking  of  colour,  are  so  many  indications  op- 
posed to  the  opinion  which  unites  these  animals  under  the 
same  specific  denomination."  Few  naturalists  will  agree 
with  this  author  that  such  slight  differences  are  sufficient 
to  separate  as  distinct  species  the  wild  and  domestic  rab- 
bit.   How  extraordinary  it  would  be,  if  close  confinement, 


1  M.  P.  Gervais.  Hist.  Nat.  des  Mammiferes,'  torn,  i.,  1354,  p.  288. 


Cuap.  IV.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  131 

perfect  tamcness,  unnatural  food,  and  careful  breeding,  all 
pi'olonged  during  many  generations,  had  not  produced  at 
least  some  effect !  The  tame  rabbit  has  been  domesticated 
from  an  aifcient  period.  Confucius  ranges  rabbits  among 
animals  worthy  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  gods,  and,  as  he 
prescribes  their  multiplication,  they  were  probably  at  this 
early  period  domesticated  in  China.  They  are  mentioned 
by  several  of  the  classical  writers.  In  1631  Gervaise 
Markham  writes,  "  You  shall  not,  as  in  other  cattell,  looke 
to  their  shape,  but  to  their  richnesse,  onely  elect  your 
buckes,  the  largest  and  goodliest  conies  you  can  get ;  and 
for  the  richnesse  of  the  skin,  that  is  accounted  the  richest 
which  hath  the  equallest  mixture  of  blacke  and  white 
haire  together,  yet  the  blacke  rather  shadowing  the  Avhite ; 
the  furre  should  be  thicke,  deepe,  smooth,  and  shining ; 
.  .  .  they  are  of  body  much  fatter  and  larger,  and,  when 
another  skin  is  worth  two  or  three  pence,  they  are  worth 
two  shillings."  From  this  full  description  we  see  that 
silver-grey  rabbits  existed  in  England  at  this  period  ;  and, 
what  is  far  more  important,  we  see  that  the  breeding  or 
selection  of  rabbits  was  then  carefully  attended  to.  Al- 
drovandi,  in  1637,  describes,  on  the  authority  of  several 
old  writers  (as  Scaliger,  in  1557),  rabbits  of  various  co- 
lours, some  "  like  a  hare,"  and  he  adds  that  P.  Valerianus 
(who  died  a  very  old  man  in  1558)  saw  at  Verona  rabbits 
four  times  bigger  than  ours.2 

From  this  fact  of  the  rabbit  having  been  domesticated 
at  an  ancient  period,  we  musflook  to  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere of  the  Old  World,  and  to  the  warmer  temperate  re- 
gions alone, for  the  aboriginal  parent-form;  for  the  rabbit 
cannot  live  without  protection  in  countries  as  cold  as  Swe- 
den, and,  though  it  has  run  wild  in  the  tropical  island  of 
Jamaica,  it  has  never  greatly  multiplied  there.     It  now  ex- 


8  U.  Aldrovandi,  '  De  Quadrupedibus        studied  the  subject  in  '  Cottage  Qarden- 
digitatis,'  1G37,  p.  383.     For  Confucius        er,'  Jan.  22nd,  1861,  p.  250. 
and  G.  Markham,  tee  a  writer  who  ha3 


132  .  DOMESTIC    BABBITS.  Chap.  IV. 

ists,  and  has  long  existed,  in  the  warmer  temperate  parts 
of  Europe,  for  fossil  remains  have  been  found  in  several 
countries.3  The  domestic  rabbit  readily  becomes  feral  in 
these'  same  countries,  and  when  variously  coloured  kinds 
are  turned  out  they  generally  revert  to  the  ordinary  grey 
colour.4  The  wild  rabbits,  if  taken  young,  can  be  domes- 
ticated, though  the  process  is  generally  very  troublesome.5 
The  various  domestic  races  are  often  crossed,  and  are  be- 
lieved to  be  perfectly  fertile  together,  and  a  perfect  gra- 
dation can  be  shown  to  exist  from  the  largest  domestic 
kinds,  having  enormously  developed  ears,  to  the  common 
wild  kind.  The  parent-form  must  have  been  a  burrowing 
animal,  a  habit  not  common,  as  far  as  I  can  discover,  to 
any  other  species  in  the  large  genus  Lepus.  Only  one 
wild  species  is  known  with  certainty  to  exist  in  Europe ; 
but  the  rabbit  (if  it  be  a  true-rabbit)  from  Mount  Sinai, 
and  likewise  that  from  Algeria,  present  slight  differences, 
and  these  forms  have  been  considered  by  some  authors  as 
specifically  distinct.0  But  such  slight  differences  would  aid 
us  little  in  explaining  the  more  considerable  differences 
charactei'istic  of  the  several  domestic  races.  If  the  latter 
are  the  descendants  of  two  or  more  closely  allied  species, 
all,  excepting  the  common  rabbit,  have  been  exterminated 
in  a  wild  state;  and  this  is  very  improbable,  seeing  with 
what  pertinacity  this  animal  holds  its  ground.  From  these 
several  reasons  we  may  infer  with  safety  that  all  the  domes- 
tic breeds  are  the  descendants  of  the  common  wild  spe- 
cies. But  from  what  we  hear  of  the  late  marvellous  suc- 
cess in  rearing  hybrids  between  the  hare  and  rabbit,7  it  is 

3  Owen, '  British  Fossil  Mammals,'  p.  I  have  received  two  accounts  of  perfect 
212.  success  in  taming  and  breeding  from  the 

4  Bechstein,  '  Naturgesch.  Deutsch-  wild  rabbit.  See  also  Dr.  P.  Broca,  in 
lands,'  1831,  b.  i.  p.  1133.  I  have  re-  'Journal  de  la  Physiologie,'  torn.  ii.  p. 
ceived  similar  accounts  with  respect  to        368. 

England  and  Scotland.  6  Gervais,  'Hist.    Nat.    des   Mammi- 

6  '  pigeons  and  Rabbits,'  by  E.  S.  De-  feres,'  torn.  i.  p.  292. 

lamer,  1S54,  p.  133.    Sir  J.  Sebright  ('  Ob-  7  See  Dr.  P.  Broca's  interesting  me- 

servations   on    Instinct,'    1836,    p.    10)  moir  on  this  subject  in  Brown-Sequard's 

speaks  most  strongly   on   the  difficulty.  '  Journ.  de  Phys.,'  vol.  ii.  p.  367. 
But  this  difficulty  is  not  invariable,  as 


Chap.  IV.  THEIR    VARIATION.  133 

possible,  though  not  probable,  from  the  great  difficulty 
in  making  tha  first  cross,  that  some  of  the  larger  races, 
which  are  coloured  like  the  hare,  may  have  been  modified 
by  crosses  with  this  animal.  Nevertheless,  the  chief  dif- 
ferences in  the  skeletons  of  the  several  domestic  breeds 
cannot,  as,  we  shall  presently  see,  have  been  derived  from 
a  cross  with  the  hare. 

There  are  many  breeds  which  transmit  their  characters 
more  or  less  truly.  Every  one  has  seen  the  enormous 
lop-eared  rabbits  exhibited  at  our  shows  ;  various  allied 
sub-breeds  are  reared  on  the  Continent,  such  as  the  so- 
called  Andalusian,  which  is  said  to  have  a  large  head 
with  a  round  forehead,  and  to  attain  a  greater  size  than 
any  other  kind ;  another  large  Paris  breed  is  named  the 
Rouennais,  and  has  a  square  head  ;  the  so-called  Pa- 
tagonian  rabbit  has  remarkably  short  ears  and  a  large 
round  head.  Although  I  have  not  seen  all  these  breeds, 
I  feel  some  doubt  about  there  being  any  marked  difference 
in  the  shape  of  their  skulls.8  English  lop-eared  rabbits 
often  weigh  8  lbs.  or  10  lbs.,  and  one  has  been  exhibited 
weighing  18  lbs. ;  whereas  a  full-sized  wild  rabbit  weighs 
only  about  3£  lbs.  The  head  or  skull  in  all  the  large  lop- 
eared  rabbits  examined  by  me  is  much  longer  relatively 
to  its  breadth  than  in  the  wild  rabbit.  Many  of  them 
have  loose  transverse  folds  of  skin  or  dewlaps  beneath  the 
throat,  which  can  be  pulled  out  so  as  to  reach  nearly  to 
the  ends  of  the  jaws.  Their  ears  are  prodigiously  develop- 
ed, and  hang  down  on  each  side  of  their  faces.  A  rabbit 
has  been  exhibited  with  its  two  ears,  measured  from  the 
tip  of  one  to  the  tip  of  the  other,  22  inches  in  length,  and 
each  car  was  5|  inches  in  breadth.  In  a  common  wild 
rabbit  I  found  that  the  length  of  the  two  ears,  from  tip  to 
tip,  was  *7|  inches,  and  the  breadth  only  ]£inch.  The 
great  weight  of  the  body  in  the  larger  rabbits,  and  the 


8  They  are  briefly  described  in  the  '  Journal  of  Horticulture,'  May  7th,  1861,  p.  10S. 


134  DOMESTIC    RABBITS.  Chap.  iv. 

immense   development  of  their  ears,  are   the  qualities 
which  win  prizes,  and  have  been  carefully  selected. 

The  hare-coloured,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  the  Bel- 
gian rabbit,  differs  in  nothing  except  colour  from  the 
other  large  breeds ;  but  Mr.  J.  Young,  of  Southampton, 
a  great  breeder  of  this  kind,  informs  me  that  the  females, 
in  all  the  specimens  examined  by  him,  had  only  six  mam- 
mae ;  and  this  certainly  was  the  case  with  two  females 
which  came  into  my  possession.  Mr.  B.  P.  Brent,  how- 
ever, assures  me  that  the  number  is  variable  with  other 
domestic  rabbits.  The  common  wild  rabbit  always  has 
ten  mammae.  The  Angora  rabbit  is  remarkable  from  the 
length  and  fineness  of  its  fur,  which  even  on  the  soles  of 
the  feet  is  of  considerable  length.  This  breed  is  the  only 
one  which  differs  in  its  mental  qualities,  for  it  is  said  to 
be  much  more  sociable  than  other  rabbits,  and  the  male 
shows  no  wish  to  destroy  its  young.9  Two  live  rabbits 
were  brought  to  me  from  Moscow,  of  about  the  size  of 
the  wild  species,  but  with  long  soft  fur,  different  from 
that  of  the  Angora.  These  Moscow  rabbits  had  pink 
eyes  and  were  snow-white,  excepting  the  ears,  two  spots 
near  the  nose,  the  upper  and  under  surface  of  the  tail, 
and  the  hinder  tarsi,  which  were  blackish-brown.  In 
short,  they  were  coloured  nearly  like  the  so-called  Hima- 
layan rabbits,  presently  to  be  described,  and  differed 
from  them  only  in  the  character  of  their  fur.  There  are 
two  other  breeds  which  come  true  to  colour,  but  differ 
in  no  other  respect,  namely  silver-greys  and  chinchillas. 
Lastly,  the  Nicard  or  Dutch  rabbit  may  be  mentioned, 
which  varies  in  colour,  and  is  remarkable  from  its  small 
size,  some  specimens  weighing  only  l£  lb. ;  rabbits  of 
this  breed  make  excellent  nurses  for  other  and  more 
delicate  kinds."10 

Certain  characters  are  remarkably  fluctuating,  or  are 


*  'Journal  of  Horticulture,'  1861,  p.  10     'Journal   of   Horticulture,'     May 

880.  28th,  1S61,  p.  169. 


Chap.   IV.  THEIR    VARIATION.  135 

very  feebly  transmitted  by  domestic  rabbits:  thus,  one 
breeder  tells  me  that  with  the  smaller  kinds  he  has  hardly 
ever  raised  a  whole  litter  of  the  same  colour:  with  the 
large  lop-eared  breeds  "it  is  impossible,"  says  a  great 
judge,11  "  to  breed  true  to  colour,  but  by  judicious  cross- 
ing a  great  deal  may  be  done  towards  it.  The  fancier 
should  know  how  his  does  are  bred,  that  is,  the  colour  of 
their  parents.'''  Nevertheless,  certain  colours,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  are  transmitted  truly.  The  dewlap  is  not 
strictly  inherited.  Lop-eared  rabbits,  with  their  ears 
hanging  flat  down  on  each  side  of  the  face,  do  not  trans- 
mit this  character  at  all  truly.  Mr.  Delamer  remarks 
that,  "  with  fancy  rabbits,  when  both  the  parents  are  per- 
fectly formed,  have  model  ears,  and  are  handsomely 
marked,  their  progeny  do  not  invariably  turn  out  the 
same."  When  one  parent,  or  even  both,  are  oar-laps,  that 
is,  have  their  ears  sticking  out  at  right  angles,  or  when 
one  parent  or  both  are  half-lops,  that  is,  have  only  one  ear 
dependent,  there  is  nearly  as  good  a  chance  of  the  pro- 
geny having  both  ears  full-lop,  as  if  both  parents  had 
been  thus  characterized.  But  I  am  informed,  if  both  pa- 
rents have  upright  ears,  there  is  hardly  a  chance  of  a  full- 
lop.  In  some  half-lops  the  ear. that  hangs  down  is  broader 
and  longer  than  the  upright  ear ; 12  so  that  we  have  the 
unusual  case  of  aVant  of  symmetry  on  the  two  sides. 
This  difference  in  the  position  and  size  of  the  two  ears 
probably  indicates  that  the  lopping  of  the  ear  results 
from  its  great  length  and  weight,  favored  no  doubt  by 
the  weakness  of  the  muscles  consequent  on  disuse.  An- 
derson 13  mentions  a  breed  having  only  a  single  ear ;  and 
Professor  Gervais  another  breed  which  is  destitute  of 
ears. 

11  '  Journal  of  nprticulture,' 1S61,  p.  136.    See  also 'Journal  of  Horticulture,' 

327.      With    respect   to    the    ears,  nee  1S61,  p.  375. 

Delamer  on  '  Pigeons  and  Rabbits,'  1S54,  13  '  An  Account  of  the  different  Kinds 

p.  141 ;  also  '  Poultry  Chronicle,'  vol.  ii.  of  Sheep    in    the    Russian    Dominions,' 

p.  499,  and  ditto  for  1S54,  p.  5S6.  1794,  p.  89. 

,a  Delamer,  '  Pigeons  and  Rabbits,'  p. 


136  DOMESTIC    RABBITS.  Chap.  IV. 


Fig.  5.— Half-lop  Rabbit.    (Copied  from  E.  S.  Delamer's  work.) 

The  origin  of  the  Himalayan  breed  (sometimes  called. 
Chinese,  or  Polish,  or  Russian)  is  so  curious,  both  in  itself, 
and  as  throwing  some  light  on  the  complex  laws  of  in- 
heritance, that  it  is  worth  giving  in  detail.  These  pretty 
rabbits  are  white,  except  their  ears,  nose,  all  four  feet,  and 
the  upper  side  of  tail,  which  are  all  brownish-black;  but 
as  they  have  red  eyes,  they  may  be  considered  as  albinoes. 
I  have  received  several  accounts  of  their  breeding  per- 
fectly true.  From  their  symmetrical  marks,  they  were 
at  first  ranked  as  specifically  distinct,  and  were  provision- 
ally named  L.  nigripes.1*  Some  good  observers  thought 
that  they  could  detect  a  difference  in  their  habits,  and 
stoutly  maintained  that  they  formed  a  new  species.  Their 
origin  is  now  well  knoAvn.  A  writer,  in  1857,15  stated  that 
he  had  produced  Himalayan  rabbits  in  the  following  man- 
ner. But  it  is  first  necessary  briefly  to  describe  two  other 
breeds :  silver-greys  or  silver-sprigs  generally  have  black 


14  '  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,'  June  23rd,  1S57,  p.  159. 
10  '  Cottage  Gardener,'  1S57,  p.  141. 


Chap.  IV.  THE    HIMALAYAN    BREED.  137 

heads  and  legs,  and  their  fine  grey  fur  is  interspersed  with 
numerous  black  and  white  long  hairs.  They  breed  perfect- 
ly true,  and  have  long  been  kept  in  warrens.  When  they 
escape  and  cross  with  common  rabbits,  the  product,  as  I 
hear  from  Mr.  Wyrley  Birch,  of  "Wretham  Hall,  is  not  a 
mixture  of  the  two  colours,  but  about  half  take  after  the 
one  parent,  and  the  other  half  after  the  other  parent.  Sec- 
ondly, chinchillas  or  tame  silver-greys  (I  will  use  the  for- 
mer name)  have  short,  paler,  mouse  or  slate-coloured  fur, 
interspersed  with  long,  blackish,  slate-coloured,  and  white 
hairs.16  These  rabbits  breed  perfectly  true.  Now,  the 
writer  above  referred  to  had  a  breed  of  chinchillas  which 
had  been  crossed  with  the  common  black  rabbit,  and  their 
offspring  were  either  blacks  or  chinchillas.  These  latter 
were  again  crossed  Avith  other  chinchillas  (which  had  also 
been  crossed  with  silver-greys),  and  from  this  complicated 
cross  Himalayan  rabbits  were  raised.  From  these  and 
other  similar  statements,  Mr.  Bartlett17  was  led  to  make 
a  careful  trial  in  the  Zoological  Gardens,  and  he  found 
that  by  simply  crossing  silver-greys  with  chinchillas  he 
could  always  produce  some  feAV  Ilimalayans;  and  the  lat- 
ter, notwithstanding  their  sudden  origin,  if  kept  separate, 
bred  perfectly  true. 

The  Ilimalayans,  when  first  born,  are  quite  white,  and 
are  then  time  albinoes  ;  but  in  the  course  of  a  few  months 
they  gradually  assume  their  dark  ears,  nose,  feet,  and  tail. 
Occasionally,  however,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  W.  A. 
Wooler  and  the  Rev.  W.  D.  Fox,  the  young  are  born  of 
a  very  pale  grey  colour,  and  specimens  of  such  fur  were 
Bent  me  by  the  former  gentleman.  The  grey  tint,  how- 
ever, disappears  as  the  animal  comes  to  maturity.  So 
that  with  these  Ilimalayans  there  is  a  tendency,  strictly 
confined  to  early  youth,  to  revert  to  the  colour  of  the 
adult    silver-grey    parent-stock.     Silver-greys    and    chin- 


18    'Journal   of   Horticulture,'  April  1T  Mr.  Bartlett,  in  'Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,' 

9th,  18C1,  p.  35.  136l,p.40. 


138  DOMESTIC    RABBITS.  Chap.  IV. 

chillas,  on  the  other  hand,  present  a  remarkable  contrast 
in  their  colour  whilst  quite  young,  for  they  are  born 
perfectly  black,  but  soon  assume  their  characteristic 
grey  or  silver  tints.  The  same  thing  occurs  with  grey 
horses,  which,  as  long  as  they  are  foals,  are  generally  of 
a  nearly  black  colour,  but  soon  become  grey,  and  get 
whiter  and  whiter  as  they  grow  older.  Hence  the  usual 
rule  is  that  Himalayans  are  born  white  and  afterwards 
become  in  certain  parts  of  their  bodies  dark-coloured  ; 
whilst  silver-greys  are  born  black  and  afterwards  become 
sprinkled  with  white.  Exceptions,  however,  and  of  a 
directly  opposite  nature,  occasionally  occur  in  both  cases. 
For  young  silver-greys  are  sometimes  born  in  warrens, 
as  I  hear  from  Mr.  W.  Birch,  of  a  cream-colour,  but 
these  young  animals  ultimately  become  black.  The- 
Himalayans,  on  the  other  hand,  sometimes  produce,  as  is 
stated  by  an  experienced  amateur,18  a  single  black  young 
one  in  a  litter;  but  such,  before  two  months  elapse, 
become  perfectly  white. 

To  sum  up  the  whole  curious  case  :  wild  silver-greys 
may  be  considered  as  black  rabbits  which  become  grey 
at  an  early  period  of  life.  When  they  are  crossed  with 
common  rabbits,  the  offspring  are  said  not  to  have 
blended  colours,  but  to  take  after  either  parent ;  and  in 
this  respect  they  resemble  black  and  albino  varieties  of 
most  quadrupeds,  which  often  transmit  their  colours  in 
this  same  manner.  When  they  are  crossed  with  chin- 
chillas, that  is,  with  a  paler  sub-variety,  the  young  are 
at  first  pure  albinoes,  but  soon  become  dark-coloured  in 
certain  parts  of  their  bodies,  and  are  then  called  Hima- 
layans. The  young  Himalayans,  however,  ai*e  sometimes 
at  first  either  pale  grey  or  completely  black,  in  either 
case  changing  after  to  white.  In  a  future  chapter  I 
shall  advance  a  large  body  of  facts  showing  that,  when 


18  '  Phenomenon  in  Himalayan  Rabbits,'  in  '  Journal  of  Horticulture,'  1865,  Jan. 
27th,  p.  102. 


Chap.   IV.  FERAL    RABBITS.  139 

two  varieties  are  crossed  both  of  Avhich  differ  in  colour 
from  their  parent-stock,  there  is  a  strong  tendency  in  the 
young  to  revert  to  the  aboriginal  colour ;  and  what  is 
very  remarkable,  this  reversion  occasionally  supervenes, 
not  before  birth,  but  during  the  growth  of  the  animal. 
Hence,  if  it  could  be  shown  that  silver-greys  and  chin- 
chillas were  the  offspring  of  a  cross  between  a  black  and 
albino  variety  with  the  colours  intimately  blended — a 
supposition  in  itself  not  improbable,  and  supported  by 
the  circumstance  of  silver-greys  in  warrens  sometimes 
producing  creamy-white  young,  which  ultimately  become 
black — then  all  the  above-given  paradoxical  facts  on  the 
changes  of  colour  in  silver-greys  and  in  their  descendants 
the  Himalayans  would  come  under  the  law  of  reversion, 
supervening  at  different  periods  of  growth  and  in  differ- 
ent degrees,  either  to  the  original  black  or  to  the  ori- 
ginal albino  parent-variety. 

It  is,  also,  remarkable  that  Himalayans,  though  produced 
so  suddenly,  breed  true.  But  as,  whilst  young,  they  are 
alhinoes,  the  case  falls  under  a  very  general  rule ;  for 
albinism  is  well  known  to  be  strongly  inherited,  as  with 
white  mice  and  many  other  quadrupeds,  and  even  with 
white  flowers.  But  why,  it  may  be  asked,  do  the  ears, 
tajl,  nose,  and  feet,  and  no  other  part  of  the  bod}7,  revert 
to  a  black  colour  ?  This  apparently  depends  on  a  law, 
which  generally  holds  good,  namely,  that  characters  com- 
mon to  many  species  of  a  genus — and  this,  in  fact,  implies 
long  inheritance  in  common  from  the  ancient  progenitor  of 
the  genus — are  found  to  resist  variation,  or  to  reappear  if 
lost,  more  persistently  than  the  characters  which  are  con- 
fined to  the  separate  species.  Now,  in  the  genus  Lepns, 
a  large  majority  of  the  species  have  their  ears  and  the 
upper  surface  of  the  tail  tinted  black;  but  the  persistence 
of  these  marks  is  best  seen  in  those  species  which  in  win- 
ter become  white :  thus,  in  Scotland  the  L.  variabilis  I9 

19  G.  K.  Waterhouse,  '  Natural  History  of  Mammalia  :  Rodents,'  1816,  pp.  53,  CO, 
105. 


140  DOMESTIC    EABBITS.  Chap.  IV. 

in  its  winter  dress  has  a  shade  of  colour  on  its  nose,  and 
the  tips  of  its  ears  are  black:  in  the  L.  tibetanus  the  ears 
are  black,  the  upper  surface  of  the  tail  greyish  black,  and 
the  soles  of  the  feet  brown  :  in  L.  glaeialis  the  winter  fur 
is  pure  white,  except  the  soles  of  the  feet  and  the  points 
of  the  ears.  Even  in  the  variously-coloured  fancy  rabbits 
we  may  often  observe  a  tendency  in  these  same  parts  to 
be  more  darkly  tinted  than  the  rest  of  the  body.  Thus, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  the  appearance  of  the  several  coloured 
marks  on  the  Himalayan  rabbit,  as  it  grows  old,  is  ren- 
dered intelligible.  I  may  add  a  nearly. analogous  case: 
fancy  rabbits  very  often  have  a  white  star  on  their  fore- 
heads ;  and  the  common  English  hare,  whilst  young,  gen- 
erally has,  as  I  have  myself  observed,  a  similar  white  star 
on  its  forehead. 

When  variously  coloured  rabbits  are  set  free  in  Europe, 
and  are  thus  placed  under  their  natural  conditions',  they 
generally  revert  to  the  aboriginal  grey  colour ;  this  may 
be  in  part  due  to  the  tendency  in  all  crossed  animals,  as 
lately  observed,  to  revert  to  their  primordial  state.  But 
this  tendency  does  not  always  prevail ;  thus  silver-grey 
rabbits  are  kept  in  warrens,  and  remain  true  though  liv- 
ing almost  in  a  state  of  nature ;  but  a  warren  must  not 
be  stocked  with  both  silver-greys  and  common  rabbits  * 
otherwise  "  in  a  few  year*  there  will  be  none  but  common 
greys  surviving."20  When  rabbits  run  wild  in  foreign 
countries,  under  different  conditions  of  life,  they  by  no 
means  always  revert  to  their  aboriginal  colour.  In  Ja- 
maica the  feral  rabbits  are  described  as  "slate-coloured, 
deeply  tinted  with  sprinklings  of  white  on  the  neck,  on 
the  shoulders,  and  on  the  back ;  softening  off  to  blue- 
white  under  the  breast  and  belly."21     But  in  this  tropi- 


20  Delamer  on  '  Pigeons  and  Rabbits,'  come  feral  in  a  hot  country.  They  can 
p.  114.  be  kept,  however,  at  Loanda  {use  Living- 

21  Gosse's  '  Sojourn  in  Jamaica,'  1S51,  stone's  'Travels,'  p.  407).  In  parts  cf 
p.  441,  as  described  by  an  excellent  ob-  India,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  BIyth, 
server,  Mr.  R.   Hill.    This  is  the  only  they  breed  well. 

known  case  in  which  rabbits  have  be- 


Chap.  IV.  FERAL    EA.BBITS.  141 

#  oal  island  the  conditions  were  not  favourable  to  their 
increase,  and  they  never  spread  widely;  and,  as  I  hear 
from  Mr.  R.  Hill,  owing  to  a  great  fire  which  occurred 
in  the  woods,  they  have  now  become  extinct.  Rabbits 
during  many  years  have  run  wild  in  the  Falkland  Islands  ; 
they  are  abundant  in  certain  parts,  but  do  not  spread  ex- 
tensively. Most  of  them  are  of  the  common  grey  colour ; 
a  few,  as  I  am  informed  by  Admiral  Sulivan,  are  hare- 
coloured,  and  many  are  black,  often  with  nearly  symme- 
trical Avhite  marks  on  their  faces.  Hence,  M.  Lesson 
described  the  black  variety  as  a  distinct  species,  under  the 
name  of  Lepus  magellanicus,  but  this,  as  I  have  elsewhere 
shown,  is  an  error.22  Within  recent  times  the  sealers 
have  stocked  some  of  the  small  outlying  islets  in  the 
Falkland  group  with  rabbits ;  and  on  Pebble  Islet,  as  I 
hear  from  Admiral  Sulivan,  a  large"  proportion  are  hare- 
coloured,  whereas  on  Rabbit  Islet  a  large  proportion  are 
of  a  bluish  colour  which  is  not  elsewhere  seen.  How  the 
rabbits  were  coloured  which  were  turned  out  on  these 
islets  is  not  known. 

The  rabbits  which  have  become  feral  on  the  island  of 
Porto  Santo,  near  Madeira,  deserve  a  fuller  account.  In 
1418  or  1419,  J.  Gonzales  Zarco  23  happened  to,  have 
a  female  rabbit  on  board  which  had  produced  young 
during  the  voyage,  and  he  turned  them  all  out  on  the 
island.  These  animals  soon  increased  so  rapidly,  that 
they  became  a  nuisance,  and  actually  caused  the  aban- 
donment of  the  settlement.  Thirty-seven  years  subse- 
quently, Cada  Mosto  describes  them  as  innumerable  ;  nor 
is  this  surprising,  as  the  island  was  not  inhabited  by  any 
beast  of  prey  or  by  any  terrestrial  mammal.  We  do  not 
know  the  character  of  the  mother-rabbit;  but  we  have 


22  Darwin's  '  Journal  of  Researches,'  in  1717,  entitled  '  Historia  Insulana,' 
p.  193;  and  'Zoology  of  the  Toyage  of  written  by  a  Jesuit,  the  rabbits  were 
the  Beagle :  Mammalia,'  p.  92.  turned  out  in  1420.    Some  authors  be- 

23  Kerr's '  Collection  of  Voyages,'  vol.  licve  that  the  island  was  discovered  in 
ii.  p.  177;  p.  203  for  Cada  Mosto.     Ac-  141:1 

cording  to  a  work  published  in  Lisbon 


142  DOMESTIC    BABBITS.  Chap.  IV. 

every  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  the  common  domesti- 
cated kind.  The  Spanish  peninsula,  whence  Zarco  sailed, 
is  known  to  have  abounded  with  the  common  wild  spe- 
cies at  the  most  remote  historical  period.  As  these  rab- 
bits were  taken  on  board  for  food,  it  is  improbable  that 
they  should  have  been  of  any  peculiar  breed.  That  the 
breed  was  well  domesticated  is  shown  by  the  doe  having 
littered  during  the  voyage.  Mr.  "Wollaston,  at  my  re- 
quest, brought  home  two  of  these  feral  rabbits  in  spirits 
of  wine  ;  and,  subsequently,  Mr.  W.  Haywood  sent  to 
me  three  more  specimens  in  brine,  and  two  alive.  These 
seven  specimens,  though  caught  at  different  periods, 
closely  resembled  each  other.  They  were  full  grown,  as 
shown  by  the  state  of  their  bones.  Although  the  condi- 
tions of  life  in  Porto  Santo  are  evidently  highly  favour- 
able to  rabbits,  as  proved  by  their  extraordinarily  rapid 
increase,  yet  they  differ  conspicuously  in  their  small  size 
from  the  wild  English  rabbit.  Four  English  rabbits, 
measured  from  the  incisors  to  the  anus,  varied  between 
17  and  l7f  inches  in  length;  whilst  two  of  the  Porto 
Santo  rabbits  were  only  14J  and  15  inches  in  length. 
But  the  decrease  in  size  is  best  shown  by  weight*  four 
wild  English  rabbits  averaged  3  lb.  5  oz.,  whilst  one  of 
the  Porto  Santo  rabbits,  which  had  lived  for  four  years 
in  the  Zoological  Gardens,  but  had  become  thin,  weighed 
only  1  lb.  9  oz.  A  fairer  test  is  afforded  by  the  compari- 
son of  the  well-cleaned  limb-bones  of  a  P.  Santo  rabbit 
killed  on  the  island  with  the  same  bones  of  a  wild  English 
rabbit  of  average  size,  and  they  differed  in  the  propor- 
tion of  rather  less  than  five  to  nine.  So  that  the  Porto 
Santo  rabbits  have  decreased  nearly  three  inches  in  length, 
and  almost  half  in  weight  of  body.24     The  head  has  not 


24  Something  of  the  same  kind  has  oc-  out  some  rabbits  which  multiplied  pro- 

curred  on  the  island  of  Lipari,   where,  digiously,   but,   says  Spallanzani,    "les 

according  to  Spallanzani  ( '  Voyage  dans  lapins  de  Pile  de  Lipari  sont  plus  petits 

les  deux  Siciles,'  quoted  by  Godron  sur  que  ceux  qu'ou  eleve  eo  domesticite." 
l'Espece,  p.  364),  a  countryman  turned 


Chap.  IV.  FERAL    BABBITS.  -  143 

decreased  in  length  proportionally  with  the  body;  and 
the  capacity  of  the  brain-case  is,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see, 
singularly  variable.  I  prepared  four  skulls,  and  these 
resembled  each  other  more  closely  than  do  generally  the 
skulls  of  wild  English  rabbits  ;  but  the  only  difference  in 
structure  which  they  presented  was  that  the  suj>ra-orbital 
processes  of  the  frontal  bones  were  narrower. 

In  colour  the  Porto  Santo  rabbit  differs  considerably 
from  the  common  rabbit ;  the  upper  surface  is  redder,  and 
is  rarely  interspersed  with  any  black  or  black-tipped  hairs. 
The  throat  and  certain  parts  of  the  under  surface,  instead 
of  being  pure  white,  are  generally  pale  grey  or  leaden 
colour.  But  the  most  remarkable  difference  is  in  the  ears 
and  tail ;  I  have  examined  many  fresh  English  rabbits, 
and  the  large  collection  of  skins  in  the  British  Museum 
from  various  countries,  and  all  have  the  upper  surface  of 
the  tail  and  the  tips  of  the  ears  clothed  with  blackish- 
grey  fur ;  and  this  is  given  in  most  works  as  one  of  the 
specific  characters  of  the  rabbit.  Now  in  the  seven  Porto 
Santo  rabbits  the  upper  surface  of  the  tail  was  reddish- 
brown,  and  the  tips  of  the  ears  had  no  trace  of  the  black 
edging.  But  here  we  meet  with  a  singular  circumstance  : 
in  June,  1861,  I  examined  two  of  these  rabbfts  recently 
sent  to  the  Zoological  Gardens,  and  their  tails  and  ears 
were  coloured  as  just  described;  but  when  one  of  their 
dead  bodies  was  sent  to  me  in  February,  1865,  the  ears 
were  plainly  edged,  and  the  upper  surface  of  the  tail  was 
covered,  with  blackish-grey  fur,  and  the  whole  body  was 
much  less  red;  so  that  under  the  English  climate  this 
individual  rabbit  had  recovered  the  proper  colour  of  its 
fur  in  rather  less  than  four  years  ! 

The  two  little  Porto  Santo  rabbits,  whilst  alive  in  the 
Zoological  Gardens,  had  a  remarkably  different  appear- 
ance from  the  common  kind.  They  were  extraordinarily 
wild  and  active,  so  that  many  persons  exclaimed  on  seeing 
them  that  they  were  more  like  large  rats  than  rabbits. 
They  were  nocturnal  to  an  unusual  degree  in  their  habits, 


144  -DOMESTIC    EABBITS.  Chap.  IV. 

and  their  wildness  was  never  in  the  least  subdued  ;  so 
that  the  superintendent,  Mr.  Bartlett,  assured  me  that  he 
had  never  had  a  wilder  animal  under  his  charge.  This 
is  a  singular  fact,  considering  that  they  are  descended 
from  a  domesticated  breed ;  I  was  so  much  surprised  at 
it,  that  I  requested  Mr.  Haywood  to  make  inquiries  on 
the  sj:>ot,  whether  they  were  much  hunted  by  the  inhabi- 
tants, or  persecuted  by  hawks,  or  cats,  or  other  animals ; 
but  this  is  not  the  case,  and  no  cause  can  be  assigned  for 
their  wildness.  They  live  on  the  central,  higher  rocky 
land  and  near  the  sea-cliffs,  and,  being  exceedingly  shy 
and  timid,  seldom  appear  in.  the  lower  and  cultivated 
districts.  They  are  said  to  produce  from  four  to  six 
young  at  a  birth,  and  their  breeding  season  is  in  July 
and  August.  Lastly,  and  this  is  a  highly  remarkable 
fact,  Mr.  Bartlett  could  never  succeed  in  getting  these 
two  rabbits,  which  were  both  males,  to  associate  or  breed 
with  the  females  of  several  breeds  which  were  repeatedly 
placed  with  them. 

If  the  history  of  these  Porto  Santo  rabbits  had  not  been 
known,  most  naturalists,  on  observing  their  much  reduced 
size,  their  reddish  colour  above  and  grey  beneath,  with 
neither  tail  nor  ears  tipped  with  black,  would  have  ranked 
them  as  a  distinct  species.  They  would  have  been  strongly 
confirmed  in  this  view  by  seeing  them  alive  in  the  Zoo- 
logical Gardens,  and  hearing  that  they  refused  to  couple 
with  other  rabbits.  Yet  this  rabbit,  which  there  can  be 
little  doubt  would  thus  have  been  ranked  as  a  distinct 
species,  has  certainly  originated  since  the  year  1420.  Fi- 
nally, from  the  three  cases  of  the  rabbits  which  have  run 
wild  in  Porto  Santo,  Jamaica,  and  the  Falkland  Islands, 
we  see  that  these  animals  do  not,  under  new  conditions  of 
life,  revert  to  or  retain  their  aboriginal  character,  as  is  so 
generally  asserted  to  be  the  case  by  most  authors. 


Chap.  IV.     DIFFERENCES    IN    THEIR    SKELETONS.        145 


Osteological  Characters. 

When  we  remember,  on  the  one  hand,  how  frequently 
'it  is  stated  that  important  parts  of  the  structure  never 
vary;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  on  what  small  differences 
in  the  skeleton  fossil  species  have  often  been  founded, 
the  variability  of  the  skull  and  of  some  other  bones  in  the 
domesticated  rabbit  well  deserves  attention.  It  must  not 
be  supposed  that  the  more  important  differences  imme- 
diately to  be  described  strictly  characterise  any  one 
breed  ;  all  that  can  be  said  is,  that  they  are  generally  pre- 
sent in  certain  breeds.  We  should  bear  in  mind  that  selec- 
tion has  not  been  applied  to  fix  any  character  in  the  skel- 
eton, and  that  the  animals  have  not  had  to  support  them- 
selves under  uniform  habits  of  life.  We  cannot  account 
for  most  of  the  differences  in  the  skeleton  ;  but  we  shall 
see  that  the  increased  size  of  the  body,  due  to  careful 
nurture  and  continued  selection,  has  affected  the  head  in 
a  particular  manner.  Even  the  elongation  and  lopping 
of  the  ears  have  influenoed  in  a  small  degree  the  form  of 
the  whole  skull.  The  want  of  exercise  has  apparently 
modified  the  proportional  length  of  the  limbs  in  compari- 
son with  the  body. 

As  a  standard  of  comparison,  I  prepared  skeletons  of  two  wild  rab- 
bits from  Kent,  one  from  tlie  Shetland  Islands,  and  one  from  Antrim 
in  Ireland.  As  all  the  bones  in  these  four  specimens  from  such  dis- 
tant localities  closely  resembled  each  other,  presenting  scarcely  any 
appreciable  difference,  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  bones  of  the 
wild  rabbit  are  general]^*  uniform  in  character. 

Skull. — I  have  carefully  examined  skulls  of  ten  large  lop-eared  fan- 
cy rabbits,  and  of  five  common  domestic  rabbits,  which  latter  differ 
from  the  lop-eared  only  in  not  having  such  large  bodies  or  ears,  yet 
both  larger  than  in  the  wild  rabbit.  First  for  the  ten  lop-eared  rab- 
bits :  in  all  these  the  skull  is  remarkably  elongated  in  comparison 
with  its  breadth.  In  a  wild  rabbit  the  length  was  3'15  inches,  in  a 
large  fancy  rabbit  430  ;  whilst  the  breadth  of  the  cranium  enclosing 
the  brain  was  in  both  almost  exactly  the  same.  Even  by  taking  as  the 
standard  of  comparison  the  widest  part  of  the  zygomatic  arch,  the 
7 


146  DOMESTIC    RABBITS.  Chap.  IV 

skulls  of  the  lop-eared  are  proportionally  to  their  breadth  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch  too  long.  The  depth  of  the  head  has  increased 
almost  in  the  same  proportion  with  the  length ;  it  is  the  breadth 
alone  which  has  not  increased.  The  parietal  and  occipital  bones  en- 
closing the  brain  are  less  arched,  both  in  a  longitudinal  and  trans-* 
verse  line,  than  in  the  wild  rabbit,  so  that  the  shape  of  the  cranium 
is  somewhat  different.  The  surface  is  rougher,  less  cleanly  sculp- ' 
tured,  and  the  lines  of  sutures  are  more  prominent. 

Although  the  skulls  of  the  large  lop-eared  rabbits  in  comparison 
with  those  of  the  wild  rabbit  are  much  elongated  relatively  to  their 
breadth,  yet,  relatively  to  the  size  of  body,  they  are  far  from  elon- 
gated. The  lop-eared  rabbits  which  I  examined  were,  though  not  fat, 
more  than  twice  as  heavy  as  the  wild  specimens ;  but  the  skull  was 
very  far  from  being  twice  as  long.  Even  if  we  take  the  fairer  stand- 
ard of  the  length  of  body,  from  the  nose  to  the  anus,  the  skull  is 
not  on  an  average  as  long  as  it  ought  to  be  by  a  tliird  of  an  inch. 
In  the  small  feral  P.  Santo  rabbit,  on  the  other  hand,  the  head  rela- 
tively to  the  length  of  the  body  is  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  too 
lonj. 

This  elongation  of  the  skull  relatively  to  its  breadth,  I  find  a  uni- 
versal character,  not  only  with  the  large  lop-eared  rabbits,  but  in  all 
the  artificial  breeds ;  as  is  well  seen  in  the  skull  of  the  Angora.  I 
was  at  first  much  surprised  at  the  fact,  and  could  not  imagine  why 
domestication  should  produce  this  uniform  result ;  but  the  explana- 
tion seems  to  he  in  the  circumstance  that  during  a  number  of  gen- 
erations the  artificial  races  have  been  closely  confined,  and  have  had 
little  occasion  to  exert  either  their  senses,  or  intellect,  or  voluntary 
muscles ;  consequently  the  brain,  as  we  shall  presently  more  fully 
see,  has  not  increased  relatively  with  the  size  of  body.  As  the  brain 
has  not  increased,  the  bony  case  enclosing  it  has  not  increased,  and 
this  has  evidently  affected  through  correlation  the  breadth  of  the 
entire  skull  from  end  to  end. 

In  all  the  skulls  of  the  large  lop-eared  rabbits,  the  supra-orbital 
plates  or  processes  of  the  frontal  bones  are  much  broader  than  in 
the  wild  rabbit,  and  they  generally  project  jnore  upwards.  In  the 
zygomatic  arch  the  posterior  or  projecting  point  of  the  malar-bone 
is  broader  and  blunter ;  and  in  the  specimen,  fig.  8 ;  it  is  so  in  a 
remarkable  degree.  This  point  approaches  nearer  to  the  auditory 
meatus  than  in  the  wild  rabbit,  as  may  be  best  seen  in  fig.  8 ;  but 
this  circumstance  mainly  depends  on  the  changed  direction  of  the 
meatus.  The  inter-parietal  bone  (see  fig.  9)  differs  much  in  shape 
in  the  several  skulls ;  generally  it  is  more  oval,  or  has  a  greater 
width  in  the  line  of  the  longitudinal  axis  of  the  skull,  than  in  the 


Chap.  IV.     DIFFERENCES    IN    THEIR    SKELETONS.         14*7 


Fig.  6.— Skull  of  Wild  Rabbit,  of  natural 
size. 


FJg.  7. — Skull  of  large  Lop-eared  Rabbit,  of  natu- 
ral size. 


wild  rabbit.  The  posterior  margin  of  "the  square  raised  plat- 
form"25 of  the  occiput,  instead  of  being  truncated,  or  projecting 
slightly  as  in  the  wild  rabbit,  is  in  most  lop-eared  rabbits  pointed, 


26  Waterhouse,  '  Nat.  Hist.  Mammalia,'  vol.  ii.  p.  36. 


148 


DOMESTIC    EABBITS. 


Chap.  IV. 


Fig.  8. — Part  of  Zygomatic  Arch,  showing 
the  projecting  end  of  the  malar  bone,  and 
the  auditory  meatus  :  of  natural  size. 
Upper  figure,  Wild  Rabbit.  Lower  figure, 
Lop-eared,  hare-coloured  Rabbit. 


as  in  fig.  9,  C.  The  paramas- 
toids  relatively  to  the  size  of 
the  skull  are  generally  niuch 
thicker  than  in  the  wild  rab- 
bit. 

The  occipital  foramen  (fig. 
10)  presents  some  remarkable 
differences :  in  the  wild  rabbit, 
the  lower  edge  between  the 
condyles  is  considerably  and 
almost  angularly  hollowed  out, 
and  the  upper  edge  is  deeply 
and  squarely  notched ;  hence 
the  longitudinal  axis  exceeds 
the  transverse  axis.  In  the 
skulls  of  the  lop-eared  rabbits 
the  transverse  axis  exceeds  the 
longitudinal ;  for  in  none  of 
these  skulls  was  the  lower  edge 
between  the  condyles  so  deeply 
hollowed  out ;  in  five  of  them  there  was  no  upper  square  notch,  in 
three  there  was  a  trace  of  the  notch,  and  in  two  alone  it  was  well 
ABC  developed.     These  differ- 

ences in  the  shape  of  the 
foramen  are  remarkable, 
considering  that  it  gives 
passage  to  so  important 
a  structure  as  the  spinal 
marrow,  though  appa- 
rently the  outline  of  the 
latter  is  not  affected  by 
the  shape  of  the  passage. 
In  all  the  skulls  of  the 
large  lop-eared  rabbits,  the  bony  auditory  meatus  is  conspicuously 
larger  than  in  the  wild  rabbit.     In  a  skull  43  inches  in  length,  and 

which  barely  exceeded 
A  in  breadth  the  skull  of 

a  wild  rabbit  (which  was 
3"15  inches  in  length), 
the  longer  diameter  of 
the  meatus  was  exactly 
twice  as  great.    The  ori- 

Fig.  10.— Occipital  Foramen  of  natural  size,  in—       nce  is  more   compressed, 
A.  Wild  Rabbit ;  B.  Large  Lop-eared  Rabbit.         and  its  margin    on    the 


Fig.  9. — Posterior  end  of  Skull,  of  natural  size, 
showing  the  inter-parietal  bone.  A.  Wild  Rabbit. 
B.  Feral  Rabbit  from  island  of  P.  Santo,  near 
Madeira.     C.  Large  Lop-eared  Rabbit. 


Chap.  IV.     DIFFERENCES    UST    THEIR    SKELETONS. 


149 


side  nearest  the  skull  stands  up  higher  than  the  outer  side.  The 
whole  meatus  is  directed  more  forwards.  As  in  breeding  lop-eared 
rabbits  the  length  of  the  ears,  and  their  consequent  lopping  and  ly- 
ing flat  on  the  face,  are  the 
chief  points  of  excellence, 
there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt 
that  the  great  change  in 
the  size,  fomi,  and  direction 
of  the  bony  meatus,  rela- 
tively to  this  same  part  in 
the  wild  rabbit,  is  due  to 
the  continued  selection  of 
individuals  having  larger 
and  larger  ears.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  external  ear  on 
the  bony  meatus  is  well 
shown  in  the  skulls  (I  have 
examined  three)  of  half-lops 
(see  fig.  5),  in  which  one  ear 
stands  upright,  and  the 
other  and  longer  ear  hangs 
down  ;  for  in  these  skulls 
there  was  a  plain  difference 
in  the  form  and  direction  of 
the  bony  meatus  on  the  two 
sides.  But  it  is  a  much 
more  interesting  fact,  that 
the  changed  direction  and 
increased  size  of  the  bony 
meatus  have  slightly  affect- 
ed on  the  same  side  the 
structure  of  the  whole  skull. 
I  here  give  a  drawing  of  the 
skull  of  a  half-lop ;  and  it 
may  be  observed  that  the 
suture  between  the  parietal 
and  frontal  bones  does  not 
run  strictly  at  right  angles 
to  the  longitudinal  axis  of 
the  skull ;  the  left  frontal 
bone  projects  beyond  the  right  one  ;  both  the  posterior  and  anterior 
margins  of  the  left  zygomatic  arch  on  the  side  of  the  lopping  ear 
stand  a  little  in  advance  of  the  corresponding  bones  on  the  opposite 
side.   Even  the  lower  jaw  is  affected,  and  the  condyles  are  not  quite 


Fig.  11.— Skull  of  natural  size  of  Half-lop  Rab- 
bit, showing  the  different  direction  of  the  au- 
ditory meatus  on  the  two  sides,  and  the  con- 
sequent general  distortion  of  the  skull.  The 
left  ear  of  the  animal  (or  right  side  of  the  fig- 
ure) lopped  forwards. 


150  DOMESTIC    BABBITS.  Chap.  IV. 

symmetrical,  that  on  the  left  standing  a  little  in  advance  of  that 
on  the  right.  This  seems  to  me  a  remarkable  case  of  correlation 
of  growth.  Who  would  have  surmised  that  by  keeping  an  animal 
during  many  generations  under  confinement,  and  so  leading  to  the 
disuse  of  the  muscles  of  the  ears,  and  by  continually  selecting  indi- 
viduals with  the  longest  and  largest  ears,  he  would  thus  indirectly 
have  affected  almost  every  suture  in  the  skull  and  the  form  of  the 
lower  jaw ! 

In  the  large  lop-eared  rabbits  the  only  difference  in  the  lower  jaw, 
in  comparison  with  that  of  the  wild  rabbit,  is  that  the  posterior  margin 
of  the  ascending  ramus  is  broader  and  more  inflected.  The  teeth  in 
neither  jaw  present  any  difference,  except  that  the  small  incisors, 
beneath  the  large  ones,  are  proportionally  a  little  longer.  The  mo- 
lar teeth  have  increased  in  size  proportionally  with  the  increased 
width  of  the  skull,  measured  across  the  zygdhiatic  arch,  and  not 
proportionally  with  its  increased  length.  The  inner  line  of  the 
sockets  of  the  molar  teeth  in  the  upper  jaw  of  the  wild  rabbit  forms 
a  perfectly  straight  line ;  but  in  some  of  the  largest  skulls  of  the 
lop-eared  this  line  was  plainly  bowed  inwards.  In  one  specimen 
there  was  an  additional  molar  tooth  on  each  side  of  the  upper  jaw, 
between  the  molars  and  premolars ;  but  these  two  teeth  did  not 
correspond  in  size  ;  and  as  no  rodent  has  seven  molars,  this  is  merely 
a  monstrosity,  though  a  curious  one. 

The  five  other  skulls  of  common  domestic  rabbits,  some  of  which 
approach  in'size  the  above-described  largest  skulls,  whilst  the  others 
exceed  but  little  those  of  the  wild  rabbit,  are  only  worth  notice  as 
presenting  a  perfect  gradation  in  all  the  above-specified  differences 
between  the  skulls  of  the  largest  lop-eared  and  wild  rabbits.  In  all, 
however,  the  supra-orbital  plates  are  rather  larger,  and  in  all  the 
auditory  meatus  is  larger,  in  conformity  with  the  increased  size  of  the 
external  ears,  than  in  the  wild  rabbit.  The  lower  notch  in  the  oc- 
cipital foramen  in  some  was  not  so  deep  as  in  the  wild,  but  in  all 
five  skulls  the  upper  notch  was  well  developed. 

The  skull  of  the  Angora  rabbit,  like  the  latter  five  skulls,  is  inter- 
mediate in  general  proportions,  and  in  most  other  characters,  between 
those  of  the  largest  lop-eared  and  wild  rabbits.  It  presents  only  one 
singular  character :  though  considerably  longer  than  the  skull  of  the 
wild,  the  breadth  measured  within  the  posterior  supra-orbital  fissures 
is  nearly  a  third  less  than  in  the  wild.  The  skulls  of  the  silver-grey 
and  chinchilla  and  Himalayan  rabbits  are  more  elongated  than  in 
the  wild,  with  broader  supra-orbital  plates,  but  differ  little  in  any 
other  respect,  excepting  that  the  upper  and  lower  notches  of  the , 
occipital  foramen  are  not  so  deep  or  so  well  developed.  The  skull 
of  the  Moscow  rabbit  scarcely  differs  in  any  respect  from  that  of  the 


Chap.  IV.     DIFFERENCES    IN    THEIR    SKELETONS.         151 


wild  rabbit.     In  the  Porto  Santo  feral  rabits  the  supra-orbital  plates 
are  generally  narrower  and  more  pointed  than  in  our  wild  rabbits. 

As  some  of  the  largest  lop-eared  rabbits  of  which  I  prepared  skele- 
tons were  coloured  almost  like  hares,  and  as  these  latter  animals 
and  rabbits  have,  as  it  is  affirmed,  been  recently  crossed  in  France, 
it  might  be  thought  that  some  of  the  above-described  characters 
had  been  derived  from  a  cross  at  a  remote  period  with  the  hare. 
Consequently  I  examined  skulls  of  the  hare,  but  no  light  could  thus 
be  thrown  on  the  peculiarities  of  the  skulls  of  the  larger  rabbits.  It 
is,  however,  an  interesting  fact,  as  illustrating  the  law  that  varieties 
of  one  species  often  assume  the  characters  of  other  species  of  the 
same  genus,  that  I  found,  on  comparing  the  skulls  of  ten  species  of 
hares. in  the  British  Museum,  that  they  differed  from  each  other 
chiefly  in  the  very  same  points  in  which  domestic  rabbits,  vary, — 
namely,  in  general  proportions,  in  the  form  and  size  of  the  supra- 
orbital plates,  in  the  form  of  the  free  end  of  the  malar  bone,  and  in 
the  line  of  suture  separating  the  occipital  and  frontal  bones.  More- 
over two  eminently  variable  characters  in  the  domestic  rabbit,  namely, 
the  outline  of  the  occipital  foramen  and  the  shape  of  the  "  raised 
platform  "  of  the  occiput,  were  likewise  variable  in  two  instances  in 
the  same  species  of  hare. 

Vertebra. — The  number  is  uni- 
form in  all  the  skeletons  which  I 
have  examined,  with  two  excep- 
tions, namely,  in  one  of  the  small 
feral  Porto  Santo  rabbits  and  in  one 
of  the  largest  lop-eared  kinds  ;  both 
of  these  had  as  usual  seven  cervical) 
twelve  dorsal  with  ribs,  but,  in- 
stead of  seven  lumbar,  both  had 
eight  lumbar  vertebra?.  This  is  re- 
markable, as  Gervais  gives  seven 
as  the  number  for  the  whole  genus 
Lepus.  The  caudal  vertebra?  appa- 
rently differ  by  two  or  three,  but  I 
did  not  attend  to  them,  and  they 
are  difficult  to  count  with  certainty. 

In  the  first  cervical  vertebra, 
or  atlas,  the  anterior  margin  of 
the  neural  arch  varies  a  little  in 
wild  specimens,  being  either  nearly 
Smooth,  or  furnished  with  a  small 
supra-median  atlantoid  process  ;  I  have  figured  a  specimen  with  the 
largest  process  (a)  which  I  have  seen ;  but  it  will  be  observed  how 


Fig.  12.  —  Atla9  Vertebrae,  of  natural 
size;  inferior  surface  viewed  ob- 
liquely. Upper  figure,  Wild  Rabbit. 
Lower  figure,  Hare-coloured,  large 
Lop-eared  Rabbit,  o,  supra-median, 
atlantoid  process ;  b,  infra-median 
process. 


152 


DOMESTIC    BABBITS. 


Chap.  IV. 


inferior  this  is  in  size  and  different  in  shape  to  that  in  a  large  lop- 
eared  rabbit.  In  the  latter,  the  infra-median  process  (6)  is  also  pro- 
portionally much  thicker  and  longer.  The  alse  are  a  little  squarer 
in  outline. 

Third  cervical  vertebra. — In  the  wild  rabbit  (fig.  13,  A  a)  this 
vertebra,  viewed  on  the  inferior  surface,  has  a  transverse  process, 
which  is  directed  obliquely  backwards,  and  consists  of  a  single 
pointed  bar  ;  in  the  fourth  vertebra  this  process  is  slightly  forked 
in  the  middle.  In  the  large  lop-eared  rabbits  this  process  (b  a) 
is  forked  in  the  third  vertebra,  as  in  the  fourth  of  the  wild 
rabbit.  But  the  third  cervical  vertebrae  of  the  wild  and  lop- 
eared  (a  6,  B  b)  rabbits 
differ  more  conspicuous- 
ly when  their  anterior 
articular  surfaces  are 
compared ;  for  the  ex- 
tremities of  the  antero- 
dorsal  processes  in  the 
wild  rabbit  are  simply 
rounded,  whilst  in  the 
lop-eared  they  are  trifid, 
with  a  deep  central  pit. 
The  canal  for  the  spinal 
marrow  in'  the  lop-eared 
(b  b  is  more  elongated 
in  a  transverse  direction 
than  in  the  wild  rabbit ; 
and  the  passages  for  the 

arteries  are  of  a  slightly  different  shape.  These  several  differences 
in  this  vertebra  seem  to  me  well  deserving  attention. 

First  dorsal  vertebra. — Its  neural  spine  varies  in  length  in  the 
wild  rabbit ;  being  sometimes  very  short,  but  generally  more  than 
half  as  long  as  that  of  the  second  dorsal ;  but  I  have  seen  it  in  two 
large  lop-eared  rabbits  three-fourths  of  the  length  of  that  of  the 
second  dorsal  vertebra. 

Ninth  and  tenth  dorsal  vertebra,. — In  the  wild  rabbit  the  neural 
spine  of  the  ninth  vertebra  is  just  perceptibly  thicker  than  that  of 
the  eighth  ;  and  the  neural  spine  of  the  tenth  is  plainly  thicker  and 
shorter  than  those  of  all  the  anterior  vertebra?.  In  the  large  lop- 
eared  rabbits  the  neural  spines  of  the  tenth,  ninth,  eighth,  and  even 
in  a  slight  degree  that  of  the  seventh  vertebra,  are  very  much  thick- 
er, and  of  somewhat  different  shape,  in  comparison  with  those  of  the 
wild  rabbit.  So  that  this  part  of  the  vertebral  column  differs  con- 
siderably in  appearance  from  the  same  part  in  the  wild  rabbit,  and 


Fig.  13. — Third  Cervical  Vertebra,  of  natural 
size,  of — A.  Wild  Rabbit ;  B.  Hare-coloured, 
large,  Lop-eared  Rabbit,  a,  a,  inferior  sur- 
face ;  b,  i>,  anterior  articular  surfaces. 


Chap.  IV.     DIFFERENCES    IN    THEIR    SKELETONS.         153 


closely  resembles  in  an  interesting  manner  these  same  vertebrae  in 
some  species  of  bares.     In  the  Angora,  Cbinchilla,  and  Himalayan 

rabbits,  the 
neural  spines 
of  the  eighth 
and  ninth  ver- 
tebra? are  in  a 
slight  degree 
thicker  than  in 
the  wild.  On 
the  other  hand, 
in  one  of  the 
feral  Porto  San- 
to rabbits, 
which  in  most 
of  its  characters 
deviates  in  an 
exactly  oppo- 
site manner  to 
what  the  large 
lop-eared  rab- 
bits    do     from 

the  common  wild  rabbit,  the  neural  spines  of  the  ninth  and  tenth 
vertebra?  were  not  at  all  larger  than  those  of  the  several  anterior 
vertebrae.  In  this  same  Porto  Santo  specimen  there  was  no  trace  in 
the  ninth  vertebra  of  the  anterior  lateral  processes  (see  woodcut  14), 
which  are  plainly  developed  in  all  British  wild  rabbits,  and  still 
more  plainly  developed  in  the  large  lop-eared  rabbits.  In  a  half- 
wild  rabbit  from  Sandon  Park,26  a  haemal  spine  was  moderately 
well  developed  on  the  under  side  of  the  twelfth  dorsal  vertebra,  and 
I  have  seen  this  in  no  other  specimen. 

Lumbar  vertebra. — I  have  stated  that  in  two  cases  there  were 
eight  instead  of  seven  lumbar  vertebrae.  The  third  lumbar  ver- 
tebra in  one  skeleton  of  a  wild  British  rabbit,  and  in  one  of  the 
Porto  Santo  feral  rabbits,  had  a  haemal  spine  ;  whilst  in  four  skele- 
tons of  large  lop-eared  rabbits,  and  in  the  Himalayan  rabbit,  this 
same  vertebra  had  a  well-developed  haemal  spine. 


Fig.  14. — Dorsal  Vertebrae,  from  sixth  to  tenth  inclusive,  of 
natural  size,  viewed  laterally.  A.  Wild  Babbit.  B.  Large, 
Hare-coloured,  so  called  Spanish  Rabbit. 


38  These  rabbits  have  run  wild  for  a 
considerable#ime  in  Sandon  Park,  and 
in  other  places  in  Staffordshire  and 
Shropshire.  They  originated,  as  I  have 
been  informed  by  the  gamekeeper,  from 
variously  -  coloured  domestic  rabbits 
which  had  been  turned  out.    They  vary 


in  colour ;  but  many  are  symmetrically 
coloured,  being  white  with  a  streak 
along  the  spine,  and  with  the  ears  and 
certain  marks  about  the  head  of  a 
blackish-grey  tint.  They  have  rather 
longer  bodies  than  common  rabbits. 


154 


DOMESTIC    BABBITS. 


Chap.  IV. 


Pelvis. — In  four  wild  specimens  this  bone  was  almost  absolutely 
identical  in  shape ;  but  in  several  domesticated  breeds  shades  of 
differences  could  be  distinguished.  In  the  large  lop-eared  rabbits 
the  whole  upper  part  of  the  ilium  is  straighter,  or  less  splayed  out- 
wards, than  in  the  wild  rabbit ;  and  the  tuberosity  on  the  inner  lip 
of  the  anterior  and  upper  part  of  the  ilium  is  proportionally  more 
prominent. 

I  Sternum. — The  posterior  end  of  the  posterior  sternal  bone  in  the 
wild  rabbit  (fig.  15,  A)  is  thin  and  slightly  enlarged  ;  in  some  of  the 
large  lop-eared  rabbits  (b)  it  is  much  more  enlarged  towards  the 
extremity;  whilst  in  other  specimens  (c)  it  keeps  nearly  of  the 
same  breadth  from  end  to  end,  but  is  much-thicker  at  the  extremity. 


Fig.  15.— Terminal  bone  of 
Sternum,  of  natural  size. 
A.  Wild  Rabbit.  B.  Hare- 
coloured, Lop-eared  Rabbit. 
C.  Hare-coloured,  Spanish 
Rabbit.  (N.B.— The  leflj- 
hand  angle  of  the  upper 
articular  extremity  of  B 
was  broken,  and  has  been 
accidentally  thus  repre- 
sented.) 


C  D 

Fig.  16. — Acromion  of  Scapula,  of  natural  size. 
A.  Wild  Rabbit.  B,  C,  D.  Large,  Lop-eared 
Rabbits. 


Scapula. — The  acromion  sends  out  a  rectangular  bar,  ending  in 
an  oblique  knob,  which  latter  in  the  wild  rabbit  (fig.  16,  a)  varies  a 
little  in  shape  and  size,  as  does  the  apex  of  the  acromion  in  sharp- 
ness, and  the  part  just  below  the  rectangular  bar  in  breadth.  But 
the  variations  in  these  respects  in  the  wild  rabbit  are  very  slight ; 
whilst  in  the  large  lop-eared  rabbits  they  are  considerable.  Thus 
in  some  specimens  (b)  the  oblique  terminal  knob  is  develq^ed  into  a 
short  bar,  forming  an  obtuse  angle  with  the  rectangular  bar.  In 
another  specimen  (c)  these  two  unequal  bars  form  nearly  a  straight 
line.  The  apex  of  the  acromion  varies  much  in  breadth  and  sharp- 
ness, as  may  be  seen  by  comparing  figs,  b,  c,  and  D. 


#  Chap.  IV.  EFFECTS    OF    USE    AND    DISUSE.  155 

Limbs. — In  these  I  could  detect  no  variation ;  but  the  bones  of 
the  feet  were  too  troublesome  to  compare  with  much  care. 

I  have  now  described  all  the  differences  in  the  skele- 
tons which  I  have  observed.  It  is  impossible  not  to  be 
struck  with  the  high  degree  of  variability  or  plasticity 
of  many  of  the  bones.  We  see  how  erroneous  the  often- 
repeated  statement  is,  that  only  the  crests  of  the  bones 
which  give  attachment  to  muscles  vary  in  shape,  and 
that  only  parts  of  slight  importance  become  modified 
under  domestication.  No  one  will  say,  for  instance,  that 
the  occipital  foramen,  or  the  atlas,  or  the  third  cervical 
vetebra  is  a  part  of  slight  importance.  If  the  several 
vertebrae  of  the  wild  and  lop-eared  rabbits,  of  which 
figures  have  been  given,  had  been  found  fossil,  palaeonto- 
logists would  have  declared  without  hesitation  that  they 
had  belonged  to  distinct  species. 

Tlie  effects  of  the  use  and  disuse  of  parts. — In  the  large  lop- 
eared  rabbits  the  relative  proportional  lengths  of  the  bones  of  the 
same  leg,  and  of  the  front  and  hind  legs  compared  with  each  other, 
have  remained  nearly  the  same  as  in  the  wild  rabbit ;  but  in 
weight,  the  bones  of  the  hind  legs  apparently  have  not  increased 
in  due  proportion  with  the  front  legs.  The  weight  of  the  whole 
body  in  the  large  rabbits  examined  by  me  was  from  twice  to  twice 
and  a  half  as  great  as  that  of  the  wild  rabbit ;  and  the  weight  of 
the  bones  of  the  front  and  hind  limbs  taken  together  (excluding  the 
•feet,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  perfectly  cleaning  so  many  small 
bones)  has  increased  in  the  large  lop-eared  rabbits  in  nearly  the 
same  proportion  ;  consequently  in  due  proportion  to  the  weight  of 
body  which  they  have  to  support.  If  we  take  the  length  of  the 
body  as  the  standard  of  comparison,  the  limbs  of  the  large  rabbits 
have  not  increased  in  length  in  due  proportion  by  one  inch,  or  by 
one  inch  and  a  half.  Again,  if  we  take  as  the  standard  of  compari-  * 
son  the  length  of  the  skull,  which,  as  we  Ifave  before  seen,  has  not 
increased  in  length  in  due  proportion  to  the  length  of  the  body,  the 
limbs  will  be  found  to  be,  proportionally  with  those  of  the  wild  rab- 
bit, from  half  to  three-quarters  of  an  inch  too  short.  Hence,  what- 
ever standard  of  comparison  be  taken,  the  limb-bones  of  the  large 
lop-eared  rabbits  have  not  increased  in  length,  though  they  have  in 
weight,  in  full  proportion  to  the  other  parts  of  the  frstme  ;  and  this, 


156  DOMESTIC    BABBITS.  Chap.  IV. 

I  presume,  may  be  accounted  for  by  tbe  inactive  life  which  during 
many  generations  they  have  spent.  Nor  has  the  scapula  increased 
in  length  in  due  proportion  to  the  increased  length  of  the  body. 

The  capacity  of  the  osseous  case  of  the  brain  is  a  more  interesting 
point,  to  which  I  was  led  to  attend  by  finding,  as  previously  stated, 
that  with  all  domesticated  rabbits  the  length  of  the  skull  relatively 
to  its  breadth  has  greatly  increased  in  comparison  with  that  of  the 
wild  rabbit.  If  we  had  possessed  a  large  number  of  domesticated 
rabbits  of  nearly  the  same  size  with  the  wild  rabbit,  it  would  have 
been  a  simple  task  to  have  measured  and  compared  the  capacities 
of  their  skulls.  But  this  is  not  the  case ;  almost  all  the  domestic 
breeds  have  larger  bodies  than  wild  rabbits,  and  the  lop-eared  kinds 
are  more  than  double  their  weight.  As  a  small  animal  has  to 
exert  its  senses,  intellect,  and  instincts  equally  with  a  large  animal, 
we  ought  not  by  any  means  to  expect  an  animal  twice  or  thrice  as 
large  as  another  to  have  a  brain  of  double  or  treble  the  size.27  Now, 
after  weighing  the  bodies  of  four  wild  rabbits,  and  of  four  large  but 
not  fattened  lop-eared  rabbits,  I  find  that  on  an  average  the  wild 
are  to  the  lop-eared  in  weight  as  1  to  2-17  ;  in  average  length  of 
body  as  1  to  1*41 ;  whilst  in  capacity  of  skull  (measured  as  hereafter 
to  be  described)  they  are  only  as  1  to  1-15.  Hence  we  see  that  the 
capacity  of  the  skull,  and  consequently  the  size  of  the  brain,  has  in- 
creased but  little  relatively  to  the  increased  size  of  the  body  ;  and 
this  fact  explains  the  narrowness  of  the  skull  relatively  to  its  length 
in  all  domestic  rabbits. 

In  the  upper  half  of  the  following  table  I  have  given  the  mea- 
surements of  the  skulls  of  ten  wild  rabbits  ;  and  in  the  lower  half 
of  eleven  thoroughly  domesticated  kinds.  As  these  rabbits  differ 
so  greatly  in  size,  it  is  necessary  to  have  some  standard  by  which  to 
compare  the  capacities  of  their  skulls.  I  have  selected  the  length 
of  skull  as  the  best  standard,  for  in  the  larger  rabbits  it  has  not,  as 
already  stated,  increased  in  length  so  much  as  the  body  ;  but  as  the 
skull,  like  every  other  part,  varies  in  length,  neither  it  nor  any 
other  part  affords  a  perfect  standard. 

In  the  first  column  of  figures  the  extreme  length  of  the  skull  is 
given  in  inches  and  decimals.  I  am  aware  that  these  measurements 
pretend  to  greater  accuracy  than  is  possible  ;  but  I  have  found  it 
the  least  trouble  to  recortl  the  exact  length  which  the  compass  gave. 
The  second  and  third  columns  give  the  length  and  weight  of  body, 
whenever  these  measurements  have  been  made.    The  fourth  column 


27  See  Prof.  Owen's  remarks  on  this  &c.,' read  before  Brit.  Association,  1862; 
subject  in  his  paper  on  the 'Zoological  with  respect  to  Birds,  see  '  Proc.  Zoolog. 
Significance  of  the  Brain,  &c,  of  Man,        Soc.'  Jan.  11th,  1S4S,  p.  8. 


Chap.  IV.  EFFECTS    OF    USE    AND    DISUSE.  157 

gives  the  capacity  of  the  skull  by  the  weight  of  small  shot  with 
which  the  skulls  had  been  filled ;  but  it  is  not  pretended  that  these 
weights  are  accurate  within  a  fe"w  grains.  In  the  fifth  column  the 
capacity  is  given  which  the  skull  ought  to  have  had  by  calculation, 
according  to  the  length  of  skull,  in  comparison  with  that  of  the 
wild  rabbit  No.  1  ;  in  the  sixth  column  the  difference  between  the 
actual  and  calculated  capacities,  and  in  the  seventh  the  percentage 
of  increase  or  decrease,  are  given.  For  instance,  as  the  wild  rabbit 
No.  5  has  a  shorter  and  lighter  body  than  the  wild  rabbit  No.  1,  we 
might  have  expected  that  its  skull  would  have  had  less  capacity ; 
the  actual  capacity,  as  expressed  by  the  weight  of  shot,  is  875 
grains,  which  is  97  grains  less  than  that  of  the  first  rabbit.  But 
comparing  these  two  rabbits  by  the  length  of  fheir  skulls,  we  see 
that  in  No.  1  the  skull  is  315  inches  in  length,  and  in  No.  5  296 
inches  in  length  ;  according  to  this  ratio,  the  brain  of  No.  5  ought  to 
have  had  a  capacity  of  913  grains  of  shot,  which  is  above  the  actual 
capacity,  but  only  by  38  grains.  Or,  to  put  the  case  in  another  way 
(as  in  column  yii),  the  brain  of  this  small  rabbit,  No.  5,  for  every 
100  grains  of  weight  is  only  4  per  cent,  too  light, — that  is.  it  ought, 
according  to  the  standard  Tabbit  No.  1,  to  have  been  4  per  cent, 
heavier.  I  have  taken  the  rabbit  No.  1  as  the  standard  of  compari- 
son because,  of  the  skulls  having  a  full  average  length,  this  has 
the  least  capacity ;  so  that  it  is  the  least  favourable  to  the  result 
which  I  wish  to  show,  namely,  that  the  brain  in  all  long-domesti- 
cated rabbits  has  decreased  in  size,  either  actually,  or  relatively  to 
the  length  of  the  head  and  body,  in  comparison  with  the  brain  of 
the  wild  rabbit.  Had  I  taken  the  Irish  rabbit,  No.  3,  as  the  stan- 
dard, the  following  results  would  have  •  been  somewhat  more 
striking. 

Turning  to  the  Table  :  the  first  four  wild  rabbits  have  skulls  of 
the  same  length,  and  these  differ  but  little  in  capacity.  The  Sandon 
rabbit  (No.  4)  is  interesting,  as,  though  now  wild,  it  is  known  to  be 
descended  from  a  domesticated  breed,  as  is  still  shown  by  its  pecu- 
liar colouring  and  longer  body  ;  nevertheless  the  skull  has  recovered 
its  normal  length  and  full  capacity.  The  next  three  rabbits  are 
wild,  but  of  small  size,  and  they  all  have  skulls  with  slightly  les- 
sened capacities.  The  three  Porto  Santo  feral  rabbits  (Nos.  8  to  10) 
offer  a  perplexing  case  ;  their  bodies  are  greatly  reduced  in  size,  as 
in  a  lesser  degree  are  their  skulls  in  length  and  in  actual  capacity, 
in  comparison  with  the  skulls  of  wild  English  rabbits.  But  when 
we  compare  the  capacities  of  the  skull  in  the  three  Porto  Santo 
rabbits,  we  observe  a  surprising  difference,  which  does  not  stand  in 
any  relation  to  the  slight  difference  in  the  length  of  their  skulls, 
nor,  as  I  believe,  to  any  difference  in  the  size  of  their  bodies  ;  but  I 


158  DOMESTIC    RABBITS.  Chap.  IV 

neglected  to  weigh  "separately  their  bodies.  I  can  hardly  suppose 
that  the  medullary  matter  of  the  brain  in  these  three  rabbits,  living 
under  similar  conditions,  can  differ  as  much  as  is  indicated  by  the 
proportional  difference  of  capacity  in  their  skulls  ;  nor  do  I  know 
whether  it  is  possible  that  one  brain  may  contain  considerably  more 
fluid  than  another.     Hence  I  can  throw  no  light  on  this  case. 

Looking  to  the  lower  half  of  the  Table,  which  gives  the  measure- 
ments of  domesticated  rabbits,  we  see  that  in  all  the  capacity  of  the 
skull  is  less,  but  in  very  various  degrees,  than  might  have  been 
anticipated  according  to  the  length  of  their  skulls,  relatively  to 
that  of  the  wild  rabbit  No.  1.  In  line  22  the  average  measurements 
of  seven  large  lop-eared  rabbits  are  given.  Now  the  question 
arises,  has  the  average  capacity  of  the  skull  in  these  seven  large 
rabbits  increased  as  much  as  might  have  been  expected  from  their 
greatly  increased  size  of  body.  We  may  endeavour  to  answer  this 
question  in  two  ways  :  in  the  upper  half  of  the  Table  we  have 
measurements  of  the  skulls  of  six  small  wild  rabbits  (Nos.  5  to  10), 
and  we  find  that  on  an  average  the  skulls  are  in  length  -18  of  an 
inch  shorter,  and  in  capacity  91  grains  less,  than  the  average  length 
and  capacity  of  the  three  first  wild  rabbits  on  the  list.  The  seven 
large  lop-eared  rabbits,  on  an  average,  have  skulls  4"  11  inches  in 
length,  and  1136  grains  in  capacity;  so  that  these  skulls  have  in- 
creased in  length  more  than  five  times  as  much  as  the  skulls  of  the 
six  small  wild  rabbits  have  decreased  in  length  ;  hence  we  might 
have  expected  that  the  skulls  of  the  large  lop-eared  rabbits  would 
have  increased  in  capacity  five  times  as  much  as  the  skulls  of  the 
six  small  rabbits  have  decreased  in  capacity  ;  and  this  would  have 
given  an  average  increased  capacity  of  455  grains,  whilst  the  real 
average  increase  is  only  155  grains.  Again,  the  large  lop-eared 
rabbits  have  bodies  of  nearly  the  same  weight  and  size  as  the  com- 
mon hare,  but  their  heads  are  longer ;  consequently,  if  the  lop- 
eared  rabbits  had  been  wild,  it  might  have  been  expected  that  their 
skulls  would  have  had  nearly  the  same  capacity  as  that  of  the  skull 
of  the  hare.  But  this  is  far  from  being  the  case  ;  for  the  average 
capacity  of  the  two  hare-skulls  (Nos.  23,  24)  is  so  much  larger  than 
the  average  capacity  of  the  seven  lop-eared  skulls,  that  the  latter 
would  have  to  be  increased  21  per  cent,  to  come  up  to  the  standard 
of  the  hare.28 


28  This  standard  is  apparently  consi-  grains  as  the  weight  of  the  brain  of  a 

derably  too  low,  for  Dr.   Crisp.  ('  Proc.  rabbit  which  weighed  3  lbs.  5  oz.,  that 

Zoolog.  Soc.,'  1SG1,  p.  S6)  gives  210  grains  is,  the  same  weight  as  the  rabbit  No.  1 

as  the  actual  weight  of  the  brain  of  a  in  my  list.    Now  the  contents  of  the 

hare  which   weighed    7   lbs.,   and    125  skull  of   rabbit  No.  1   in  shot  is  in  my 


Chap.  IV.  EFFECTS    OF    USE    AND    DISUSE.  159 

I  have  previously  remarked  that,  if  we  had  possessed  many  do- 
mestic rabbits  of  the  same  average  size  with  the  wild  rabbit,  it 
would  have  been  easy  to  compare  the  capacity  of  their  skulls. 
Now  the  Himalayan,  Moscow,  and  Angora  rabbits  (Nos.  11,  12,  13 
of  Table)  ase  only  a  little  larger  in  body,  and  have  skulls  only  a 
little  longer,  than  the  wild  animal,  and  we  sec  that  the  actual  ca- 
pacity of  their  skulls  is  less  than  in  the  wild  animal,  and  considera- 
bly less  by  calculation  (column  7),  according  to  the  difference  in  the 
length  of  their  skulls.  The  narrowness  of  the  brain-case  in  these 
three  rabbits  could  be  plainly  seen  and  proved  by  external  measure- 
ment. The  Chinchilla  rabbit  (No.  14)  is  a  considerably  larger  ani- 
mal than  the  wild  rabbit,  yet  the  capacity  of  its  skull  only  slightly 
exceeds  that  of  the  wild  rabbit.  The  Angora  rabbit,  No.  13,  offers 
the  most  remarkable  case  ;  this  animal  in  its  pure  white  colour  and 
length  of  silky  fur  bears  the  stamp  of  long  domesticity.  It  has  a 
considerably  longer  head  and  body  than  the  wild  rabbit,  but  the 
actual  capacity  of  its  skull  is  less  than  that  of  even  the  little  wild 
Porto  Santo  rabbits.  By  the  standard  of  the  length  of  skull  the 
capacity  (see  column  7)  is  only  half  of  what  it  ought  to  have  been ! 
I  kept  this  individual  animal  alive,  and  it  was  not  unhealthy  nor 
idiotic.  This  case  of  the  Angora  rabbit  so  much  surprised  me,  that 
I  repeated  all  the  measurements  and  found  them  correct.  I  have 
also  compared  the  capacity  of  the  skull  of  the  Angora  with  that  of 
the  wild  rabbit  by  other  standards,  namely,  by  the  length  and 
weight  of  the  body,  and  by  the  weight  of  the  limb-bones  ;  but  by 
all  these  standards  the  brain  appears  to  be  much  too  small,  though 
in  a  less  degree  when  the  standard  of  the  limb-bones  was  used  ; 
and  this  latter  circumstance  may  probably  be  accounted  for  by  the 
limbs  of  this  anciently  domesticated  breed  having  become  much 
reduced  in  weight,  from  its  long-continued  inactive  life.  Hence  I 
infer  that  in  the  Angora  breed,  which  is  said  to  differ  from  other 
breeds  in  being  quieter  and  more  social,  the  capacity  of  the  skull 
has  really  undergone  a  remarkable  amount  of  reduction. 

From  the  several  facts  above  given, — namely,  firstly, 
that  the  actual  capacity  of  the  skull  in  the  Himalayan, 
Moscow,  and  Angora  breeds,  is  less  than  in  the  Avild 
rabbit,  though  they  are  in  all  their  dimensions  rather 
larger  animals  ;  secondly,  that  the  capacity  of  the  skull 


table  972  grains  ;  and  according  to  Dr.        grains  of  shot,  instead  of  only  (in  the 
Crisp's  ratio  of  125  to  210,  the  skull  of        largest  hare  in  my  table)  1455  grains, 
the  hare  ought  to  have  contained  16S2 


160 


DOMESTIC    RABBITS. 


Chap.  IV. 


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Chap.  iv.  EFFECTS    OF    USE    AND    DISUSE.  161 

of  the  large  lop-eared  rabbits  has  not  been  increased  in 
nearly  the  same  ratio  as  the  capacity  of  the  skull  of 
the  smaller  wild  rabbits  has  been  decreased ;  and  third- 
ly, that  the  capacity  of  the  skull  in  these  same  large  lop- 
eared  rabbits  is  very  inferior  to  that  of  the  hare,  an  ani- 
mal of  nearly  the  same  size, — I  conclude,  notwithstand- 
ing the  remarkable  differences  in  capacity  in  the  skulls 
of  the  small  P.  Santo  rabbits,  and  likewise  in  the  large 
lop-eared  kinds,  that  in  all  long-domesticated  rabbits  the 
brain  has  either  by  no  means  increased  in  due  propor- 
tion with  the  increased  length  of  the  head  and  increased 
size  of  the  body,  or  that  it  has  actually  decreased  in 
size,  relatively  to  what  would  have  occurred  had  these 
animals  lived  in  a  state  of  nature.  When  we  remember 
that  rabbits,  from  having  been  domesticated  and  closely 
confined  during  many  generations,  cannot  have  exerted 
their  intellect,  instincts,  senses,  and  voluntary  move- 
ments, either  in  escaping  from  various  dangers  or  in 
searching  for  food,  we  may  conclude  that  their  brains 
will  have  been  feebly  exercised,  and  consequently  have 
suffered  in  development.  We  thus  see  that  the  most  im- 
portant and  complicated  organ  in  the  whole  organization 
is  subject  to  the  law  of  decrease  in  size  from  disuse. 

Finally,  let  us  sum  up  the  more  important  modifica- 
tions which  domestic  rabbits  have  undergone,  together 
with  their  causes  as  far  as  we  can  obscurely  see  them. 
By  the  supply  of  abundant  and  nutritious  food,  together 
with  little  exercise,  and  by  the  continued  selection  of 
the  heaviest  individuals,  the  weight  of  the  larger  breeds 
has  been  more  than  doubled.  The  bones  of  the  limbs 
have  increased  in  weight  (but  the  hind  legs  less  than  the 
front  legs),  in  due  proportion  with  the  increased  weight 
o'f  body;  but  in  length  they  have  not  increased  in  due 
proportion,  and  this  may  have  been  caused  by  the  want 
of  proper  exercise.  With  the  increased  size  of  the  body 
the  third  cervical  vertebra  has  assumed  characters  proper 
to  the  fourth  cervical :  and  the  eighth  and  ninth  dorsal 


162  DOMESTIC    RABJBTTS.  Chap.  IV. 

vertebras  have  similarly  assumed  characters  proper  to 
the  tenth  and  posterior  vertebras.  The  skull  in  the 
larger  breeds  has  increased  in  length,  but  not  in  due 
proportion  with  the  increased  length  of  body ;  the  brain 
has  not  duly  increased  in  dimensions,  or  has  even  ac- 
tually decreased,  and  consequently  the  bony  case  for  the 
brain  has  remained  narrow,  and  by  correlation  has 
affected  the  bones  of  the  face  and  the  entire  length  of 
the  skull.  The  skull  has  thus  acquired  its  characteristic 
narrowness.  From  unknown  causes  the  supra-orbital  pro- 
Cesses  of  the  frontal  bones  and  the  free  end  of  the  malar 
bones  have  increased  in  breadth;  and  in  the -larger  breeds 
the  occipital  forasnen  is  generally  much  less  deeply 
notched  than  in  wild  rabbits.  Certain  parts  of  the  sca- 
pula and  the  terminal  sternal  bones  have  become  highly 
variable  in  shape.  The  ears  have  been  increased  enormous- 
ly in  length  and  breadth  through  continued  selection; 
their  weight,  conjoined  probably  with  the  disuse  of  their 
muscles,  has  caused  them  to  lop  downwards ;  and  this 
has  affected  the  position  and  form  of  the  bony  auditory 
meatus ;  and  this  again,  by  correlation,  the  position  in  a 
slight  degree  of  almost  every  bone  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  skull,  and  even  the  position  of  the  condyles  of  the 
lower  jaw. 


Chap.  V.      PIGEONS  I     DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.         163 


CHAPTER   V. 

DOMESTIC    PIGEONS. 

ENUMERATION  AND  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SEVERAL  BREEDS  —  IN- 
DIVIDU  AL  VARIABILITY  —  VARIATIONS  OP  A  REMARKABLE  NA- 
TURE —  OSTEOLOGICAL  CHARACTERS  :  SKULL,  LOWER  JAW,  NUM- 
BER OP  VERTEBRAE  —  CORRELATION  OP  GROWTH  :  TONGUE  WITH 
BEAK  ;  EYELIDS  AND  NOSTRILS  WITH  WATTLED  SKIN  —  NUMBER 
OF  WING-FEATHERS,  AND  LENGTH  OP  WTNG  —  COLOUR  AND  DOWN 

—  WEBBED  AND  FEATHERED  FEET  —  ON  THE  EFFECTS  OF  DISUSE 

—  LENGTH  OP  FEET  LN  CORRELATION  WITH  LENGTH  OF  BEAK  — 
LENGTH  OF  STERNUM,  SCAPULA,  AND  FERCULA  —  LENGTH  OF 
WINGS  —  SUMMARY  ON  THE  POINTS  OF  DIFFERENCE  LN  THE 
SEVERAL  BREEDS. 

I  have  been  led  to  study  domestic  pigeons  with  particu- 
lar care,  because  the  evidence  that  all  the  domestic  races 
have  descended  from  one  known  source  is  far  clearer 
than  with  any  other  anciently  domesticated  animal. 
Secondly,  because  many  treatises  in  several  languages, 
some  of  them  old,  have  been  written  on  the  pigeon,  so 
that  we  are  enabled  to  trace  the  history  of  several 
breeds.  And  lastly,  because,  from  causes  which  we  can. 
partly  understand,  the' amount  of  variation  has  been  ex- 
traordinarily great.  The  details  will  often  be  tediously 
minute  ;  but  no  one  who  really  wants  to  understand  the 
progress  of  change  in  domestic  animals  will  regret  this ; 
and  no  one  who  has  kept  pigeons  and  has  marked  the 
great  difference  between  the  breeds  and  thetrueness  with 
which  most  of  them  propagate  their  kind,  will  think  this 
care  superfluous.     Notwithstanding  the   clear  evidence 


164 


DOMESTIC   PIGEONS. 


Chap.  V. 


that  all  the  breeds  are  the  descendants  of  a  single  species, 
I  could  not  persuade  myself  until  some  years' had  passed 
that  the  whole  amount  of  difference  between  them  had 
arisen  since  man  first  domesticated  the  wild  rock-pigeon. 

I  have  kept  alive  all  the  most  distinct  breeds,  which  I 
could  procure  in  England  or  from  the  Continent ;  and  have 
prepared  skeletons  of  all.  I  have  received  skins  from 
Persia,  and  a  large  number  from  India  and  other  quarters 
of  the  world.1  Since  my  admission  into  two  of  the  Lon- 
don pigeon-clubs,  I  have  received  the  kindest  assistance 
from  many  of  the  most  emdnent  amateurs.2 

The  races  of  the  Pigeon  which  can  be  distinguished, 
and  which  breed  true,  are  .very  numerous.  MM.  Boitard 
and  Corbie 3  describe  in  detail  122  kinds ;  and  I  could  add 
several  European  kinds  not  known  to  them.  In  India, 
judging  from  the  skins  sent  me,  there  are  many  breeds 
unknown  here ;  and  Sir  "W.  Elliot  informs  me  that  a  col- 
lection imported  by  an  Indian  merchant    into   Madras 


1  The  Hon.  C.  Murray  has  sent  me 
some  very  valuable  specimens  from  Per- 
sia ;  and  H.M.  Consul,  Mr.  Keith  Ab- 
bott, has  given  me  information  on  the 
pigeons  of  the  same  country.  I  am 
deeply  indebted  to  Sir  Walter  Elliot  for 
an  immense  collection  of  skins  from 
Madras,  with  much  information  regard- 
ing them.  Mr.  Blyth  has  freely  com- 
municated to  me  his  stores  of  knowledge 
on  this  and  all  other  related  subjects. 
The  Rajah  Sir  James  Brooke  sent  me 
specimens  from  Borneo,  as  has  H.M. 
Consul,  Mr.  Swinhoe,  from  Amoy  -in 
China,  and  Dr.  Daniell  from  the  west 
coast  of  Africa. 

2  Mr.  B.  P.  Brent,  well  known  for  his 
various  contributions  to  poultry  litera- 
ture, has  aided  me  in  every  way  during 
several  years  ;  so  has  ^lr.  Tegetmeier, 
with  unwearied  kindness.  This  latter 
gentleman,  who  is  well  known  for  his 
works  on  poultry,  and  who  has  largely 
bred  pigeons,  has  looked  over  this  and 
the  following    chapters.     Mr.  Bult  for- 


merly showed  me  his  unrivalled  collec- 
tion of  Pouters,  and  gave  me  specimens. 
I  had  access  to  Mr.  Wicking's  collection, 
which  contained  a  greater  assortment  of 
many  kinds  than  could  anywhere  else 
be  seen ;  and  he  has  always  aided  me 
with  specimens  and  information  given 
in  the  freest  manner.  Mr.  Haynes  and 
Mr.  Corker  have  given  me  specimens  of 
their  magnificent  Carriers.  To  Mr.  Har- 
rison Weir  I  am  likewise  indebted.  Nor 
must  I  by  any  means  pass  over  the  as- 
sistance received  from  Mr.  J.  M.  Eaton, 
Mr.  Baker,  Mr.  Evans,  and  Mr.  J.  Baily, 
jun.,  of  Mount-street — to  the  latter  gen- 
tlemen I  have  been  indebted  for  some 
valuable  specimens.  To  all  these  gen- 
tlemen I  beg  permission  to  return  my 
sincere  and  cordial  thanks. 

3  '  Les  Pigeons  de  Voliere  et  de  Co- 
lombier,'  Paris,  1824.  During  forty-five 
years  the  sole  occupation  of  M.  Corbie 
was  the  care  of  the  pigeons  belonging 
to  the  Duchess  of  Berry. 


Chap.  V.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  165 

from  Cairo  and  Constantinople  included  several  kinds 
unknown  in  India.  I  have  no  doubt  that  there  exist 
considerably  above  150  kinds  which  breed  true  and  have 
been  separately  named.  But  of  these  the  far  greater 
number  differ  from  each  other  only  in  unimportant  cha- 
racters. Such  differences  will  be  here  entirely  passed 
over,  and  I  shall  confine  myself  to  the  more  important 
points  of  structure.  That  many  important  differences 
exist  we  shall  presently  sec.  I  have  looked  through  the 
magnificent  collection  of  the  Columbida?  m  the  British 
Museum,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  forms  (such  as 
the  Didunculus,  Calamas,  Goura,  &c),  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  affirm  that  some  domestic  races  of  the  rock-pigeon 
differ  fully  as  much  from  each  other  in  external  charac- 
ters as  do  the  most  distinct  natural  genera.  We  may 
look  in  vain  through  the  288  known  species 4  for  a  beak 
so  small  and  conical  as  that  of  the  short-faced  tumbler; 
for  one  so  broad  and  short  as  that  of  the  barb ;  for  one 
so  long,  straight,  and  narrow,  with  its  enormous  wattles, 
as  that  of  the  English  carrier ;  for  an  expanded  upraised 
tail  like  that  of  the  fantail ;  or  for  an  oesophagus  like  that 
of  the  pouter.  I  do  not  for  a  moment  pretend  that  the 
domestic  races  differ  from  each  other  in  their  whole  or- 
ganisation as  much  as  the  more  distinct  natural  genera. 
I  refer  only  to  external  characters,  on  which,  however, 
it  must  be  confessed  that  most  genera  of  birds  have  been 
founded.  When,  in  a  future  chapter,  we  discuss  the  prin- 
ciple of  selection  as  followed  by  man,  we  shall  clearly 
see  why  the  differences  between  the  domestic  races  are 
almost  always  confined  to  external,  or  at  least  to  exter- 
nally visible,  characters. 

Owing  to  the  amount  and  gradations  of  difference  be- 
tween the  several  breeds,  I  have  found  it  indispensable  in . 
the  following  classification  to  rank  them  under  Groups, 


4  'Coup  d'Oeil    sur  l'Ordre  des    Pi-        vis,  1S55.    This   author  makes  288  spe- 
geons,'  par  Prince  C.  L.  Bonaparte,  Pa-        cies,  ranked  under  S5  genera. 


166  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

Races,  and  Sub-races ;  to  which  varieties  and  sub- varie- 
ties, all  strictly  inheriting  their  proper  characters,  must 
often  be  added.  Even  with  the  individuals  of  the  same 
sub-variety,  when  long  kept  by  different  fanciers,  differ- 
ent strains  can  sometimes  be  recognised.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that,  if  well-characterized  forms  of  the  several 
Races  had  been  found  wild,  all  would  have  been  ranked 
as  distinct  species,  and  several  of  them  would  certainly 
have  been  placed  by  ornithologists  in  distinct  genera.  A 
good  classification  of  the  various  domestic  breeds  is  ex- 
tremely difficult,  owing  to  the  manner  in  which  many  of 
the  forms  graduate  into  each  other  ;  but  it  is  curious  how 
exactly  the  same  difficulties  are  encountered,  and  the 
same  rules  have  to  be  followed,  as  in  the  classification  of 
any  natural  but  difficult  group  of  organic  beings.  An 
"  artificial  classification  "  might  be  followed  which  would 
present  fewer  difficulties  than  a  "natural  classification  ;" 
but  then  it  would  interrupt  many  plain  affinities.  Ex- 
treme forms  can  readily  be  defined  ;  but  intermediate 
and  troublesome  forms  often  destroy  our  definitions. 
Forms  which  may  be  called  "  aberrant"  must  sometimes 
be  included  within  groups  to  which  they  do  not  accurate- 
ly belong.  Characters  of  all  kinds  must  be  used ;  but  as 
with  birds  in  a  state  of  nature,  those  afforded  by  the  beak 
are  the  best  and  most  readily  appreciated.  It  is  not  pos- 
sible to  weigh  the  importance  of  all  the  characters  which 
have  to  be  used  so  as  to  make  the  groups  and  sub-groups 
of  equal  value.  Lastly,  a  group  may  contain  only  one 
race,  and  another  and  less  distinctly  defined  group  may 
contain  sevei'al  races  and  sub-races,  and  in  this  case  it  is 
difficult,  as  in  the  classification  of  natural  species,  to  avoid 
placing  too  high  a  value  on  characters  which  are  common 
to  a  large  number  of  forms. 

In  my  measurements  I  have  never  trusted  to  the  eye ; 
and  when  speaking  of  a  part  being  large  or  small,  I 
always  refer  to  the  wild  rock-pigeon  (Columba  livia) 


Chap.  V.  J>ESCRIPTIOX    OF    BKEEDS.  167 

as  the  standard  of  comparison.     The  measurements  are 
given  in  decimals  of  an  inch.5 

I  will  now  give  a  brief  description  of  all  the  principal 
breeds.  The  following  diagram  may  aid  the  reader  in 
learning  their  names  and  seeing  their  affinities.  The 
rock-pigeon,  or  Columba  livia  (including  under  this  name 
two  or  three  closely  allied  sub-species  or  geographical 
races,  hereafter  to  be  described),  may  be  confidently 
viewed,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter,  as  the  com- 
mon parent-form.  The  names  in  italics  on  the  right-hand 
side  of  the  table  show  us  the  most  distinct  breeds,  or  those 
which  have  undergone  the  greatest  amount  of  modifica- 
tion. The  lengths  of  the  dotted  lines  rudely  represent 
the  degree  of  distinctness  of  each  breed  from  the  parent- 
stock,  and  the  names  placed  under  each  other  in  the  col- 
umns show  the  more  or  less  closely  connecting  links.  The 
distances  of  the  dotted  lines  from  each  other  approximate- 
ly represent  the  amount  of  difference  between  the  seve- 
ral breeds. 


6  As  I  so  often  refer  to  the  size  of  the  measurements  of  two  wild  birds,  kindly 
C.  livia,  or  rock-pigeon,  it  may  be  con-  sent  me  by  Dr.  Edmondstone  from  the 
venient  to  give  the  mean  between  the        Shetland  Islands  :— 

Inches. 

Length  from  feathered  base  of  beak  to  end  of  tail 14'25 

•     "        "  "  "  to  oil-gland       9'5 

"        from  tip  of  beak  to  end  of  tail        15-02 

"        of  tail  feathers 4'6'2 

"        from  tip  to  tip  of  wing      26"75 

"        of  folded  wing 9-25 

Beak. — Length  from  tip  of  beak  to  feathered  base -77 

"        Thickness,  measured  vertically  at  further  end  of  nostrils       -23 

"        Breadth,  measured  at  same  place -16 

Feet. — Length  from  end  of  middle  toe  (without  claw)  to  distal  end  of  tibia     . .      2-77 
"       Length  from  end  of  middle  toe  to  end  of  hind  toe  (without  claws). .     . .      2*02 
Weight  14X  ounces. 


168 


DOMESTIC    PIGEON'S. 


Fig.  17.— The  Rock -pigeon,  or  Columba  livia."     The  parent-form  of  all  domesticated 
Pigeons. 


6  This  drawing  was  made  from  a  dead  meier.     It  may  be  confidently  asserted 

bird.      The  six  following  figures  were  that  the  characters  of  the   six  breeds 

drawn  with  great  care  by  Mr.  Luke  Wells  which  have  been  figured  are  not  in  the 

from  living  birds  selected  by  Mr.  Teget-  least  exaggerated. 


Chap.  V. 


DESCRIPTION    OF   BEEEDS. 


1G9 


f  .f 

> 


o 
o 


Dove-cot  pigeon. 

Swallow. 

Spot. 

Nun. 

English  Friil-back. 

Laugher. 

Trumpeter. 


a  S3 

-sir 


-J  a' 

Eh 


a  Si 
o  _2 

S3. 

a  a 

O    3 

OH 


PP 


2  9« 

e3  PL,  CJ 


P  o 
© 


Pl.,-3 


o 


°q«j 


rf  a e 

_   »g 

a 


'< 


6s  3 


170 


DOMESTIC    PIGEONS. 


C^AP.   V. 


Fig.  18. — English  Pouter. 


Gkoup  I. 


This  group  includes  a  single  race,  that  of  the  Pouters. 
If  the  most  strongly  marked  sub-race  be  taken,  namely, 
the  Improved  English  Pouter,  this  is  perhaps  the  most 
distinct  of  all  domesticated  pigeons. 


Chap.  V.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  171 


Race   I. — Pouter   Pigeons.      (Kropf-tanben,    German. 
Grosses-gorges,  or  boulans,  French.) 

(Esophagus  of  great  size,  barely  separated  from  the 
crop,  often  inflated.  Body  and  legs  elongated.  Beak  of 
moderate  dimensions. 

Sub-race  I. — The  improved  English  Pouter,  when  its  crop  is  fully 
inflated,  presents  a  truly  astonisliing  appearance.  The  habit  of 
slightly  inflating  the  crop  is  common  to  all  domestic  pigeons,  but  is 
carried  to  an  extreme  in  the  Pouter.  The  crop  does  not  differ,  ex- 
cept in  size,  from  that  of  other  pigeons ;  but  is  less  plainly  separated 
,by  an  oblique  construction  from  the  oesophagus.  The  diameter  of 
the  upper  part  of  the  oesophagus  is  immense,  even  close  up  to  the 
head.  The  beak  in  one  bird  which  I  possessed  was  almost  com- 
pletely buried  when  the  oesophagus  was  fully  expanded.  The  males, 
especially  when  excited,  pout  more  than  the  females,  and  they  glory 
in  exercising  this  power.  If  a  bird  will  not,  to  use  the  technical  ex- 
pression, "  play,"  the  fancier,  as  I  have  witnessed,  by  taking  the  beak 
into  his  mouth,  blows  him  up  like  a  balloon ;  and  the  bird,  then 
puffed  up  with  wind  and  pride,  struts  about,  retaining  his  magnifi- 
cent size  as  long  as  he  can.  Pouters  often  take  flight  with  their  crops 
inflated ;  and  after  one  of  my  birds  had  swallowed  a  good  meal  of 
peas  and  water,  as  he  flew  up  in  order  to  disgorge  them  and  thus 
feed  his  nearly  fledged  young,  I  have  heard  the  peas  rattling  in  his 
inflated  crop  as  if  in  a  bladder.  When  flying  they  often  strike  the 
backs  of  their  wings  together,  and  thus  make  a  clapping  noise. 

Pouters  stand  remarkably  upright,  and  their  bodies  are  thin  and 
elongated.  In  connexion  with  this  form  of  body,  the  ribs  are  gene- 
rally broader  and  the  vertebrae  more  numerous  than  in  other  breeds. 
From  their  manner  of  standing  their  legs  appear  longer  than  they 
really  are,  though  in  proportion  with  those  of  C.  lima,  the  legs  and 
feet  are  actually  longer.  The  wings  appear  much  elongated,  but  by 
measurement,  in  relation  to  the  length  of  body,  this  is  not  the  case. 
The  beak  likewise  appears  longer,  but  it  is  in  fact  a  little  shorter 
(about  -03  of  an  inch),  proportionally  with  the  size  of  the  body,  and 
relatively  to  the  beak  of  the  rock-pigeon.  The  Pouter,  though  not 
bulky,  is  a  large  bird  ;  I  measured  one  which  was  34£  inches  from 
tip  to  tip  of  wing,  and  19  inches  from  tip  of  beak  to  end  of  tail.  In 
a  wild  rock-pigeon  from  the  Shetland  Islands  the  same  measurements 
gave  only  28£  and  14f .  There  are  many  sub-varieties  of  the  Pouter 
of  different  colours,  but  these  I  pass  over. 


172  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

Sub-race  II.  Dutch  Pouter. — This  seems  to  be  the  parent-form 
of  our  improved  English  Pouters.  I  kept  a  pair,  but  I  suspect  that 
they  were  not  pure  birds.  They  are  smaller  than  English  Pouters, 
and  less  well  developed  in  all  their  characters.  Neumeister 7  says 
that  the  wings  are  crossed  over  the  tail,  and  do  not  reach  to  its  ex- 
tremity. 

Sub-race  III.  The  Lille  Pouter. — I  know  this  breed  only  from 
description."  It  approaches  in  general  form  the  Dutch  Pouter,  but 
the  inflated  oesophagus  assumes  a  spherical  form,  as  if  the  pigeon 
had  swallowed  a  large  orange,  which  had  stuck  close  under  the 
beak.  This  inflated  ball  is  represented  as  rising  to  a  level  with  the 
crown  of  the  head.  The  middle  toe  alone  is  feathered.  A  variety 
of  this  sub-race,  called  the  claquant,  is  described  by  MM.  Boitard 
and  Corbie  ;  it  pouts  but  little,  and  is  characterised  by  the  habit  of 
violently  hitting  its  wings  together  over  its  back, — a  habit  which 
the  English  Pouter  has  in  a  slight  degree. 

Sub-race  IV.  Common  German  Pouter. — I  know  this  bird  only 
from  the  figures  and  description  given  by  the  accurate  Neumeister, 
one  of  the  few  writers  on  pigeons  who,  as  I  have  found,  may  be  al- 
ways trusted.  This  sub-race  seems  considerably  different.  The  up- 
per part  of  the  oesophagus  is  much  less  distended.  The  bird  stands 
less  upright.  The  feet  are  not  feathered,  and  the  legs  and  beak  are 
shorter.  In  these  respects  there  is  an  approach  in  form  to  the  com- 
mon rock-pigeon.  The  tail-feathers  are  very  long,  yet  the  tips  of 
the  closed  wings  extend  beyond  the  end  of  the  tail ;  and  the  length 
of  the  wings,  from  tip  to  tip,  and  of  the  body,  is  greater  than  in  the 
English  Pouter. 

Group  IT. 

This  group  includes  three  Races,  namely,  Carriers, 
Runts,  and  Barbs,  which  are  manifestly  allied  to  each 
other.  Indeed,  certain  carriers  and  runts  pass  into  each 
other  by  such  insensible  gradations  that  an  arbitrary  line 
has  to  be  drawn  between  them.  Carriers  also  graduate 
through  foreign  breeds  into  the  rock-pigeon.  Yet,  if  well- 
characterised  Carriers  and  Barbs  (see  figs.  19  and  20)  had 
existed  as  wild  species,  no  ornithologist  would  have  placed 
them  in  the  same  genus  with  each  other  or  with  the  rock- 


7  '  Das  Ganze  der  Taubenzucht :'  Wei-  8  Boitard  and  Corbie,  *  Les  Pigeons,' 

mar,  1837,  pi.  11  and  12.  &c,  177,  pi.  6. 


Cuap.  V.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  173 

pigeon.  This  group  may,  as  a  general  rule,  l)e  recognised 
by  the  beak  being  long,  with  the  skin  over  the  nostrils 
swollen  and  often  carunculated  or  wattled,  and  with  that 
round  the  eyes  bare  and  likewise  carunculated.  The 
mouth  is  very  wide,  and  the  feet  are  large.  Nevertheless 
the  Barb,  which  must  be  classed  in  this  same  group,  has  a 
very  short  beak,  and  some  runts  have  very  little  bare  skin 
round  their  eyes. 

Race  II. — Caheieus.   (Tiirkische  Taube :  Pigeons  Turcs : 
Dragons.) 

Beak  elongated,  narrow,  pointed;  eyes  surrounded  by 
much  naked,  generally  caruncidated  s/ci?i  /  neck  and  body 
elongated. 

Sub-race  I.  The  English  Carrier. — This  is  a  fine  bird,  of  large 
size,  close  feathered,  generally  dark-coloured,  with  an  elongated 
neck.  The  beak  is  attenuated  and  of  -wonderful  length :  in  one 
specimen  it  was  14  inch  in  length  from  the  feathered  base  to  the 
tip  ;  therefore  nearly  twice  as  long  as  that  of  the  rock-pigeon,  which 
measured  only  -77.  Whenever  I  compare  proportionally  any  part  in 
the  carrier  and  rock-pigeon,  I  take  the  length  of  the  body  from  the 
base  of  the  beak  to  the  end  of  the  tail  as  the  standard  of  compari- 
son ;  and  according  to  this  standard,  the  beak  in  one  Carrier  was 
nearly  half  an  inch  longer  than  in  the  rock-pigeon.  The  upper 
mandible  is  often  slightly  arched.  The  tongue  is  very  long.  The 
development  of  the  carunculated  skin  or  wattle  round  the  eyes,  over 
the  nostrils,  and  on  the  lower  mandible  is  prodigious.  The  eyelids, 
measured  longitudinally,  were  in  some  specimens"  exactly  twice  as 
lonjj  as  in  the  rock-pigeon.  The  external  orifice  or  furrow  of  the 
nostrils  was  also  twice  as  long.  The  open  mouth  in  its  widest  part 
was  in  one  case  "75  of  an  inch  in  width,  whereas  in  the  rock-pigeon 
it  is  only  about  '4  of  an  inch.  This  great  width  of  mouth  is  shown 
in  the  skeleton  by  the  reflexed  edges  of  the  ramus  of  the  lower  jaw. 
The  head  is  flat  on  the  summit  and  narrow  between  the  orbits.  The 
feet  are  large  and  coarse  ;  the  length,  as  measured  from  end  of  hind 
toe  to  end  of  middle  toe  (without  the  claws),  was  in  two  specimens 
20  inches  ;  and  this,  proportionally  with  the  rock-pigeon,  is  an  ex- 
cess of  nearly  a  quarter  of  an  iuch.  One  very  fine  Carrier  measured 
31.V  inches  from  tip  to  tip  of  wing.  Birds  of  this  sub-race  are  too 
valuable  to  be  flown  as  carriers. 


174 


DOMESTIC   PIGEONS. 


Chap.  V. 


Sub-race  II.  Dragons;  Persian  Carriers. — The  English  Dragon 
differs  from  the  improved  English  Carrier  in  heing  smaller  in  all 
its  dimensions,  and  in  having  less  wattle  round  the  eyes  and  over 


the  nostrils,  and  none  on  the  lower  mandible.  Sir  W.  Elliot  sent 
me  from  Madras  a  Bagdad  Carrier  (sometimes  called  khandesi),  the 
name  of  which  shows  its  Persian  origin ;  it  would  be  considered 


Chap.  V.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  175 

here  a  very  poor  Dragon ;  the  body  was  of  the  size  of  the  rock- 
pigeon,  with  the  beak  a  little  longer,  namely,  1  inch  from  the  tip  to 
the  feathered  base.  The  skin  round  the  eyes  was  only  slightly 
wattled,  whilst  that  over  the  nostrils  was  fairly  wattled.  The  Hon. 
C.  Murray,  also,  sent  me  two  Carriers  direct  from  Persia ;  these  had 
nearly  the  same  character  as  the  Madras  bird,  being  about  as  large 
as  the  rock-pigeon,  but  the  beak  in  one  specimen  was  as  much  as 
1'15  in  length  ;  the  skin  over  the  nostrils  was  only  moderately,  and 
that  round  the  eyes  scarcely  at  all  wattled. 

Sub-race  III.  Bagadotten-Tauben  of  Neumeister  (Pavdotten  or 
Hocker-Tauben). — I  owe  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Baily,  jun.,  a  dead 
specimen  of  this  singular  breed  imported  from  Germany.  It  is 
certainly  allied  to  the  Runts ;  nevertheless,  from  its  close  affinity 
with  Carriers,  it  will  be  convenient  here  to  describe  it.  The  beak 
is  long,  and  is  hooked  or  bowed  downwards  in  a  highly  remarkable 
manner,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  woodcut  to  be  hereafter  given  when 
I  treat  of  the  skeleton.  The  eyes  are  surrounded  by  a  wide  space 
of  bright  red  skin,  which,  as  well  as  that  over  the  nostrils,  is  mode- 
rately wattled.  The  breast-bone  is  remarkably  protuberant,  being 
abruptly  bowed  outwards.  The  feet  and  tarsi  are  of  great  length, 
larger  than  in  first-rate  English  Carriers.  The  whole  bird  is  of 
large  size,  but  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  body  the  feathers  of 
the  wing  and  tail  are  short  ;  a  wild-rock  pigeon  of  considerably  less 
size,  had  tail-feathers  46  inches  in  length,  whereas  in  the  large 
Bagadotten  these  feathers  were  scarcely  over  44  inches  in  length. 
Riedel 9  remarks  that  it  is  a  very  silent  bird. 

Sub-race  IV.  Bussorah  Carrier. — Two  specimens  were  sent  me 
by  Sir  W.  Elliot  from  Madras,  one  in  spirits  and  the  other  skinned. 
The  name  shows  its  Persian  origin.  It  is  much  valued  in  India, 
and  is  considered  as  a  distinct  breed  from  the  Bagdad  Carrier, 
which  forms  my  second  sub-race.  At  first  I  suspected  that  these 
two  sub-races  might  have  been  recently  formed  by  crosses  with 
other  breeds,  though  the  estimation  in  which  they  are  held  renders 
this  improbable  ;  but  in  a  Persian  treatise, 10  believed  to  have  been 
written  about  100  years  ago,  the  Bagdad  and  Bussorah  breeds  are 
described  as  distinct.  The  Bussorah  Carrier  is  of  about  the  same 
size  with  the  wild  rock-pigeon.  The  shape  of  the  beak,  with  some 
little  carunculated  skin  over  the  nostrils, — the  much  elongated 
eyelids, — the  broad  mouth  measured  internally, — the  narrow  head, — 
the  feet  proportionally  a  little  longer  than  in  the  rock-pigeon, — and 


•  'Die  Taubenzucht,1  Ulm,  1824,  s.  42.        owe  to  the  great  kindness  of  Sir  W.  Elliot 
10  This  treatise  was  written  by  Sayzid        a  translation  of  this  curious  treatise. 
Mohammed  Musari,  who  died  in  1770 :  I 


176  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

the  general  appearance,  all  show  that  this  bird  is  an  undoubted 
Carrier;  yet  in  one  specimen  the  beak  was  of  exactly  the  same 
length  as  in  the  rock-pigeon.  In  the  other  specimen  the  beak  (as 
well  as  the  opening  of  the  nostrils)  was  only  a  very  little  longer, 
viz.  by  -08  of  an  inch.  Although  there  was  a  considerable  space  of 
bare  and  slightly  carunculated  skin  round  the  eyes,  that  over  the 
nostrils  was  only  in  a  slight  degree  rugose.  Sir  W.  Elliot  informs 
me  that  in  the  living  bird  the  eye  seems  remarkably  large  and 
prominent,  and  the  same  fact  is  noticed  in  the  Persian  treatise  ;  but 
the  bony  orbit  is  barely  larger  than  that  in  the  rock-pigeon. 

Amongst  the  several  breeds  sent  to  me  from  Madras  by  Sir  W. 
Elliot  there  is  a  pair  of  the  Kala  Par,  black  birds  with  the  beak 
slightly  elongated,  with  the  skin  over  the  nostrils  rather  full,  and 
with  a  little  naked  skin  round  the  eyes.  This  breed  seems  more 
closely  allied  to  the  Carrier  than  to  any  other  breed,  being  nearly 
intermediate  between  the  Bussorah  Carrier  and  the  rock-pigeon. 

The  names  applied  in  different  parts  of  Europe  and  in  India  to 
the  several  kinds  of  Carriers  all  point  to  Persia  or  the  surrounding 
countries  as  the  source  of  this  Race.  And  it  deserves  especial  notice 
that,  even  if  we  neglect  the  Kala  Par  as  of  doubtful  origin,  we  get 
a  series  broken  by  very  small  steps,  from  the  rock-pigeon,  through 
the  Bussorah,  which  sometimes  has  a  beak  not  at  all  longer  than 
that  of  the  rock-pigeon  and  with  the  naked  skin  round  the  eyes  and 
over  the  nostrils  very  slightly  swollen  and  carunculated,  through 
the  Bagdad  sub-race  and  Dragons,  to  our  improved  English  Carriers, 
which  present  so  marvellous  a  difference  from  the  rock-pigeon  or 
Columba  Kvia. 

Race  III. — Runts.  (Scanderoons :  DieFlorentiner-Taube 
and  Hinkel-Tanbe  of  Neumeister:  Pigeon  Bagadais, 
Pigeon  Romain.) 

JBeaJc  long,  massive  /  body  of  great  size. 

Inextricable  confusion  reigns  in  the  classification,  affinities,  and 
naming  of  Runts.  Several  characters  which  are  generally  pretty 
constant  in  other  pigeons,  such  as  the  length  of  the  wings,  tail, 
legs,  and  neck,  and  the  amount  of  naked  skin  round  the  eyes,  are 
excessively  variable  in  Runts.  When  the  naked  skin  over  the 
nostrils  and  round  the  eyes  is  considerably  developed  and  wattled, 
and  when  the  size  of  body  is  not  very  great,  Runts  graduate  in  so 
insensible  a  manner  into  Carriers,  that  the  distinction  is  quite  arbi- 
trary. This  fact  is  likewise  shown  by  the  names  given  to  them  in 
different  parts  of  Europe.     Nevertheless,  taking  the  most  distinct 


Chap.  V.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  177 

forms,  at  least  five  sub-races  (some  of  tliem  including  well-marked 
varieties)  can  be  distinguished,  which  differ  in  such  important  points 
of  structure,  that  they  would  be  considered  as  good  species  in  a  state 
of  nature. 

Sub-i-ace  I.  Scanderoon  of  English  tcriters  (Die  Florentiner  and 
Ilinkel-Tauhe  of  Xeumeister). — Birds  of  this  sub-race,  of  which  I 
kept  one  alive  and  have  since  seen  two  others,  differ  from  the  Baga- 
dotten  of  Xeumeister  only  in  not  having  the  beak  nearly  so  much 
curved  downwards,  and  in  the  naked  skin  round  the  eyes  and  over 
the  nostrils  being  hardly  at  all  wattled.  Nevertheless  I  have  felt 
myself  compelled  to  place  the  Bagadotten  in  Race  II.,  or  that  of  the 
Carriers,  and  the  present  bird  in  Race  III.,  or  that  of  the  Runts. 
The  Scanderoon  has  a  very  short,  narrow,  and  elevated  tail ;  wings 
extremely  short,  so  that  the  first  primary  feathers  were  not  longer 
than  those  of  a  small  tumbler  pigeon !  Neck  long,  much  bowed  ; 
breast-bone  prominent.  Beak  long,  being  1'15  inch  from  tip  to 
feathered  base  ;  vertically  thick  ;  slightly  curved  downwards.  The 
skin  over  the  nostrils  swollen,  not  wattled ;  naked  skin  round  the 
eyes,  broad,  slightly  carunculated.  Legs  long ,  feet  very  large. 
Skin  of  neck  bright  red,  often  showing  a  naked  medial  line,  with  a 
naked  red  patch  at  the  distant  end  of  the  radius  of  the  wing.  My 
bird,  as  measured  from  the  base  of  the  beak  to  the  root  of  the  tail, 
was  fully  2  inches  longer  than  the  rock-pigeon  ;  yet  the  tail  itself 
was  only  four  inches  in  length,  whereas  in  the  rock-pigeon,  which 
is  a  much  smaller  bird,  the  tail  is  4f  inches  in  length. 

The  Hinkel  or  Flore ntiner-Taube  of  Xeumeister  (Table  XIII.,  fig. 
1)  agrees  with  the  above  description  in  all  the  specified  characters 
(for  the  beak  is  not  mentioned),  except  that  Neumeister  expressly 
says  that  the  neck  is  short,  whereas  in  my  Scanderoon  it  was  re- 
markably long  and  bowed  ;  so  that  the  Hinkel  forms  a  well-marked 
variety. 

Sub-race  II.  Pigeon  Cygne  and  Pigeon  Bagadais  of  Boitard  and. 
Corbie  (Scanderoon  of  French  writers). — I  kept  two  of  these  birds 
aUve,  imported  from  France.  They  differed  from  the  first  sub-race 
or  true  Scanderoon  in  the  much  greater.length  of  the  wing  and  tail, 
in  the  beak  not  being  so  long,  and  in  the  skin  about  the  head  being 
more  carunculated.  The  skin  of  the  neck  is  red  ;  but  the  naked 
patches  on  the  wings  are  absent.  One  of  my  birds  measured  38-J- 
inches  from  tip  to  tip  of  wing.  By  taking  the  length  of  the  body  as 
the  standard  of  comparison,  the  two  wings  were  no  less  than  5 
inches  longer  than  those  of  the  rock-pigeon  !  The  tail  was  6J  inches 
in  length,  and  therefore  2J  inches  longer  than  that  of  the  Scande- 
roon,— a  bird  of  nearly  the  same  size.  The  beak  is  longer,  thicker, 
and  broader  than  in  the  rock-pigeon,  proportionally  with  the  size 


1  78  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

of  body.  The  eyelids,  nostrils,  and  internal  gape  of  mouth  are  all 
proportionally  very  large,  as  in  Carriers.  The  foot,  from  the  end  of 
the  middle  to  end  of  hind  toe,  was  actually  285  inches  in  length, 
which  is  an  excess  of  32  of  an  inch  over  the  foot  of  the  rock-pigeon, 
relatively  to  the  size  of  the  two  birds. 

Sub-race  III  Spanish  and  Roman  Runts. — I  am  not  sure  that  I 
am  right  in  placing  these  Runts  in  a  distinct  sub-race ;  yet,  if  we 
take  well-characterized  birds,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  propriety 
of  the  separation.  They  are  heavy,  massive  birds,  with  shorter 
necks,  legs,  and  beaks  than  in  the  foregoing  races.  The  skin  over 
the  nostrils  is  swollen,  but  not  carunculated  ;  the  naked  skin  round 
the  eyes  is  not  very  wide,  and  only  slightly  carunculated ;  and  I 
have  seen  a  fine  so-called  Spanish  Runt  with  hard]y  any  naked  skin 
round  the  eyes.  Of  the  two  varieties  to  be  seen  in  England,  one, 
which  is  the  rarer,  has  very  long  wings  and  tail,  and  agrees  pretty 
chosely  with  the  last  sub-race ;  the  other,  with  shorter  wings  and 
tail,  is  apparently  the  Pigeon  Romain  ordinaire  of  Boitard  and 
Corbie.  These  Runts  are  apt  to  tremble  like  Fantails.  They  are 
bad  flyers.  A  few  years  ago  Mr.  Gulliver  n  exhibited  a  Runt  which 
weighed  1  lb.  14  oz.  ;  and,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Tegetmeier, 
two  Runts  from  the  south  of  France  were  lately  exhibited  at  the 
Crystal  Palace,  each  of  which  weighed  2  lbs.  2-J-  oz.  A  very  fine 
rock-pigeon  from  the  Shetland  Islands  weighed  only  14^  oz. 

Sub-race  IV.  Tronfo  of  Aldrovandi  (Leghorn  Runt  ?). — In  Aldro- 
vandi's  work  published  in  1600  there  is  a  coarse  woodcut  of  a  great 
Italian  pigeon,  with  an  elevated  tail,  short  legs,  massive  body,  and 
with  the  beak  short  and  thick.  I  had  imagined  that  this  latter 
character,  so  abnormal  in  the  group,  was  merely  a  false  representa- 
tion from  bad  drawing ;  but  Moore,  in  his  work  published  in  1735, 
says  that  he  possessed  a  Leghorn  Runt  of  which  "  the  beak  was 
very  short  for  so  large  a  bird."  In  other  respects  Moore's  bird  re- 
sembled the  first  sub-race  of  Scanderoon,  for  it  had  a  long  bowed 
neck,  long  legs,  short  beak,  and  elevated  tail,  and  not  much  wattle 
about  the  head.  So  that  Aldrovandi's  and  Moore's  birds  must  have 
formed  distinct  varieties,  both  of  which  seem  to  be  now  extinct  in 
Europe.  Sir  W.  Elliot,  however,  informs  rne  that  he  has  seen  in 
Madras  a  short-beaked  Runt  imported  from  Cairo. 

Sub-race  V.  Murassa  (adorned  Pigeon)  of  Madras. — Skins  of  these 
handsome  chequered  birds  were  sent  me  from  Madras  by  Sir  W. 
Elliot.  They  are  rather  larger  than  the  largest  rock-pigeon,  with 
longer  and  more  massive  beaks.     The  skin  over  the  nostrils  is 


11  'Poultry  Chronicle,'  vol.  ii.  p.  573. 


Chap.  V.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  179 

rather  full  and  very  slightly  carunculated,  and  they  have  some 
naked  skin  round  the  eyes  :  feet  large.  This  hreed  is  intermediate 
between  the  rock-pigeon  and  a  very  poor  variety  of  Runt  or  Car- 
rier. 

From  these  several  descriptions  we  see  that  with  Runts,  as  with 
Carriers,  we  have  a  fine  gradation  from  the  rock-pigeon  (with  the 
Tronfo  diverging  as  a  distinct  branch)  to  our  largest  and  most  mas- 
sive Runts.  But  the  chain  of  affinities,  and  many  points  of  resem- 
blance, between  Runts  and  Carriers,  make  me  believe  that  these 
two  races  have  not  descended  by  independent  lines  from  the  rock- 
pigeon,  but  from  some  common  parent,  as  represented  in  the  Table, 
which  had  already  acquired  a  moderately  long  beak,  with  slightly 
swollen  skin  over  the  nostrils,  and  with  some  slightly  carunculated 
naked  skin  round  the  eyes. 

Race  IV. — Barbs.  (Indische-Taube :  Pigeons  Polonais.) 

Heak  short,  broad,  deep;  naked  skin  round,  the  eyes, 
broad  and  carunculated /  skin  over  nostrils  slightly 
swollen. 

Misled  by  the  extraordinary  shortness  and  form  of  the  beak,  I  did 
not  at  first  perceive  the  near  affinity  of  this  Race  to  that  of  Carriers 
until  the  fact  was  pointed  out  to  me  by  Mr.  Brent.  Subsequently, 
after  examining  the  Bussorah  Carrier,  I  saw  that  no  very  great 
amount  of  modification  would  be  requisite  to  convert  it  into  a  Barb. 
This  view  of  the  affinity  of  Barbs  to  Carriers  is  supported  by  the 
analogical  difference  between  the  short  and  long-beaked  Runts  ; 
and  still  more  strongly  by  the  fact  that  young  Barbs  and  Dragons, 
within  24  hours  after  being  hatched,  resemble  each  other  more 
closely  than  do  young  pigeons  of  other  and  equally  distinct  breeds. 
At  this  early  age,  the  length  of  beak,  the  swollen  skin  over  the  ra- 
ther open  nostrils,  the  gape  of  the  mouth,  and  the  size  of  the  feet, 
are  the  same  in  both ;  although  these  parts  afterwards  become 
widely  different.  We  thus  see  that  embryology  (as  the  comparison 
of  very  young  animals  may  perhaps  be  called)  comes  into  play  in 
the  classification  of  domestic  varieties,  as  with  species  in  a  state  of 
nature. 

Fanciers,  with  some  truth,  compare  the  head  and  beak  of  the 
Barb  to  that  of  a  bullfinch.  The  Barb,  if  found  in  a  state  of  nature, 
would  certainly  have  been  placed  in  a  new  genus  formed  for  its  re- 
ception. The  body  is  a  little  larger  than  that  of  the  rock-pigeon, 
but  the  beak  is  more  than  2  of  an  inch  shorter ;  although  shorter, 


180 


DOMESTIC    PIGEONS. 


Chap.  V. 


it  is  both  vertically  and  horizontally  thicker.     From  the  outward 
flexure  of  the  rami  of  the  lower  jaw,  the  mouth  internally  is  very 


Chap.  V.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  181 

broad,  iu  the  proportion  of  "G  to  -4  to  that  of  the  rock-pigeon.  The 
■whole  head  is  broad.  The  skin  over  the  nostrils  is  swollen,  but  not 
carunculated,  except  slightly  in  first-rate  birds  when  old  ;  whilst  the 
naked  skin  round  the  eye  is  broad  and  much  carunculated.  It  is 
sometimes  so  much  developed,  that  a  bird  belonging  to  Mr.  Harri- 
son Weir  could  hardly  see  to  pick  up  food  from  the  ground.  The 
eyelids  in  one  specimen  were  nearly  twice  as  long  as  those  of  the 
rock-pigeon.  The  feet  are  coarse  and  strong,  but  proportionally 
rather  shorter  than  in  the  rock-pigeon.  The  plumage  is  generally 
darkand  uniform.  Barbs,  in  short,  may  be  called  short-beaked  Car- 
riers, bearing  the  same  relation  to  Carriers  that  the  Tronfo  of  Aldro- 
vandi  does  to  the  common  Runt. 

Group  III. 

This  group  is  artificial,  and  includes  a  heterogeneous 
collection  of  distinct  forms.  It  may  be  defined  by  the 
beak  in  well-characterised  specimens  of  the  several  races, 
being  shorter  than  in  the  rock-pigeon,  and  by  the  skin 
round  the  eyes  not  being  much  developed. 

Race  V. — Fantails. 

Sub-race  I.  European  Fanta&a  (Pfauen-Taube  j  Trembleurs).  Tail 
expanded,  directed  upwards,  formed  of  many  feathers;  oil-gland 
aborted ;  body  and  beak  rather  short. 

The  normal  number  of  tail-feathers  in  the  genus  Columba  is  12  ; 
but  Fantails  have  from  only  12  (as  has  been  asserted)  up  to,  ac- 
cording to  MM.  Boitard  and  Corbie,  42.  I  have  counted  in  one  of 
my  own  birds  33,  and  at  Calcutta  Mr.  Blyth 12  has  counted  in  an  im- 
perfect tail  34  feathers.  In  Madras,  as  I  am  informed  by  Sir  W. 
Elliot,  32  is  the  standard  number ;  but  in  England  number  is  much 
less  valued  than  the  position  and  expansion  of  the  tail.  The  feath- 
ers are  arranged  in  an  irregular  double  row ;  their  permanent  ex- 
pansion, like  a  fan,  and  their  upward  direction,  are  more  remarkable 
characters  than  their  increased  number.  The  tail  is  capable  of  the 
same  movements  as  in  other  pigeons,  and  can  be  depressed  so  as  to 
sweep  the  ground.  It  arises  from  a  more  expanded  basis  than  in 
other  pigeons ;  and  in  three  skeletons  there  were  one  or  two  extra 
coccygeal  vertebra?.     I  have  examined  many  specimens  of  various 


:2  '  Annals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.  History,'  vol.  xix.,  1?4T,  p.  105. 


182 


DOMESTIC    PIGEOXS. 


Ceap.  V. 


colours  from  different  countries,  and  there  was  no  trace  of  the  oil- 
gland  ;  this  is  a  curious  case  of  abortion.13     The  neck  is  thin  and 


13  This  gland  occurs  in  most  birds ;        1S40,  p.  55)  states  that  it  is  absent  in  two 
but   Nitzsch    (in    his   '  Pterylographie,'        species  of  Columba,  in  several  sp»cies  of 


Chap.  V.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  183 

bowed  backwards.  Tbe  breast  is  broad  and  protuberant.  Tbe  fest 
are  small.  The  carriage  of  tbe  bird  is  very  different  from  that  of 
other  pigeons ;  in  good  birds  the  head  touches  the  tail-feathers, 
which  consequently  often  become  crumpled.  They  habitually  trem- 
ble much ;  and  their  necks  have  an  extraordinary,  apparently  con- 
vulsive, backward  and  forward  movement.  Good  birds  walk  in  a 
singular  manner,  as  if  their  small  feet  were  stiff.  Owing  to  their 
large  tails,  they  fly  badly  on  a  windy  day.  The  dark-coloured  vari- 
eties are  generally  larger  than  white  Fantails. 

Although  between  the  best  and  common  Fantails,  now  existing 
in  England,  there  is  a  vast  difference  in  the  position  and  size  of  the 
tail,  in  the  carriage  of  the  head  and  neck,  in  the  convulsive  move- 
ments of  the  neck,  in  the  manner  of  walking,  and  in  the  breadth 
of  the  breast,  the  differences  so  graduate  away,  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  make  more  than  one  sub-race.  Moore,  however,  an  excellent 
old  authority,14  says,  that  in  1735  there  were  two  sorts  of  broad- 
tailed  shakers  (i.e.  fantails),  "  one  having  a  neck  much  longer  and 
more  slender  than  the  other  ;"  and  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  B.  P.  Brent 
that  there  is  an  existing  German  Fantail  with  a  thicker  and  shorter 
beak. 

Sub-iYice  II  Jam  Faidiiil — Mr.  Swinhoe  sent  me  from  Amoy,  in 
China,  the  skin  of  a  Fantail  belonging  to  a  breed  known  to  have 
been  imported  from  Java.  It  was  coloured  in  a  peculiar  manner, 
unlike  any  European  Fantail,  and,  for  a  fantail,  had  a  remarkably 
short  beak.  Athough  a  good  bird  of  the  kind,  it  had  only  14  tail- 
feathers  ;  but  Mr.  Swinhoe  has  counted  in  other  birds  of  this  breed 
from  18  to  24  tail-feathers.  From  a  rough  sketch  sent  to  me,  it  is 
evident  that  the  tail  is  not  so  much  expanded  or  so  much  upraised 
as  in  even  second-rate  European  Fantails.  The  bird  shakes  its  neck 
like  our  Fantails.  It  had  a  well-developed  oil-gland.  Fantails 
were  known  in  India,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  before  the  year 
lfiOO  ;  and  we  may  suspect  that  in  the  Java  Fantail  we  see  the 
breed  in  its  eariier  and  less  improved  condition. 


Psittaeus,  in  some  species  of  Otis,  and  in  namely  16,  and  in  this  respect  resemble 

most  or  all  birds  of  the  Ostrich  family.  Fantails. 

It  can  hardly  be  an  accidental    coinci-  '  •'Seethe  two  excellent  editions  pub- 

dence  that  the  two  species  of  Columba,  lished  by  Mr.  J.  M.  Eaton  in  1S52  and 

which  are  destitute  of  an  oil-gland,  have  1S5S,  entitled    '  A    Treatise    on    Fancy 

*n    unusual    number    of    tail-feathers,  Pigeons.' 


184  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.'  Chap.  V. 


Race  VI. — Tuebit  and  Owl.     (Moven-Taube :  Pigeons 
a  cravate.) 

Feathers  divergent  along  the  front  of  the  neck  and 
breast  ;  beak  very  short,  vertically  rather  thick  ;  cesopha- 
gus  someiohat  enlarged. 

Turbits  and  Owls  differ  from  each  other  slightly  in  the  shape  of 
the  head,  in  the  former  having  a  crest,  and  in  the  curvature  of  the 
beak,  but  they  may  be  here  conveniently  grouped  together.  These 
pretty  birds,  some  of  which  are  very  small,  can  be  recognised  at 
once  by  the  feathers  irregularly  diverging,  like  a  frill,  along  the 
front  of  the  neck,  in  the  same  manner,  but  in  a  less  degree,  as  along 
the  back  of  the  neck  in  the  Jacobin.  This  bird  has  the  remarkable 
habit  of  continually  and  momentarily  inflating  the  upper  part  of 
the  oesophagus,  which  causes  a  movement  in  the  frill.  When  the 
oesophagus  of  a  dead  bird  was  inflated,  it  was  seen  to  be  larger 
than  in  other  breeds,  and  not  so  distinctly  separated  from  the  crop. 
The  Pouter  inflates  both  its  true  crop  and  oesophagus  ;  the  Turbit 
inflates  in  a  much  less  degree  the  oesophagus  alone.  The  beak  of 
the  Turbit  is  very  short,  being  -28  of  an  inch  shorter  than  that  of 
the  rock-pigeon,  proportionally  with  the  size  of  their  bodies  ;  and  in 
some  owls  brought  by  Mr.  E.  Vernon  Harcourt  from  Tunis,  it  was 
even  shorter.  The  beak  is  vertically  thicker,  and  perhaps  a  little 
broader,  in  proportion  to  that  of  the  rock-pigeon. 

Race  VII. — Tumbleks.     (Ttimmler,  or  Burzel-Tauben: 

Culbutants.) 

During  fight,  tumble  backwards;  body  generally 
small;  beak  generally  short,  sometimes  excessively  short 
and  conical. 

This  Race  may  be  divided  into  four  sub-races,  namely,  Persian, 
Lotan,  Common,  and  Short-faced  Tumblers.  These  sub-races  in- 
clude many  varieties  which  breed  true.  I  have  examined  eight 
skeletons  of  various  kinds  of  Tumblers :  excepting  in  one  imperfect 
and  doubtful  specimen,  the  ribs  are  only  seven  in  number,  whereas 
the  rock-pigeon  has  eight  ribs. 

Sub-race  I.  Persian  Tumblers.— I  have  received  a  pair  direct 
from  Persia,  from  the  Hon.  C.  Murray.  They  were  rather  smaller 
birds  than  the  wild  rock-pigeon,  being  about  the  size  of  the  common 


Chap.  V. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS. 


185 


dovecot-pigeon,  white  and  mottled,  slightly  feathered  on  the  feet, 
with  the  beak  j  ust  perceptibly  shorter  than  in  the  rock-pigeon.    H.  M. 


Consul,  Mr.  Keith  Abbott,  informs  me  that   the   difference  in  the 
length  of  beak  is  so  slight,  that  only  practised  Persian  fanciers  can 


180  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

distinguish  these  Tumblers  from  the  common  pigeon  of  the  country. 
He  informs  me  that  they  fly  in  flocks  high  up  in  the  air  and  tumble 
well.  Some  of  them  occasionally  appear  to  become  giddy  and  tum- 
ble to  the  ground,  in  which  respect  they  resemble  some  of  our 
Tumblers. 

Sub-race  II  Lolan,  or  Lowtun  :  Indian  Ground  tumblers. — 
These  birds  present  one  of  the  most  remarkable  inherited  habits  or 
instincts  which  have  ever  been  recorded.  The  specimens  sent  to  me 
from  Madras  by  Sir.  W.  Elliot  are  white,  slightly  feathered  on  the 
feet,  with  the  feathers  on  the  head  reversed ;  and  they  are  rather 
smaller  than  the  rock  or  dovecot  pigeon.  The  beak  is  proportion- 
ally only  slightly  shorter  and  rather  thinner  than  in  the  rock-pigeon. 
These  birds  when  gently  shaken  and  placed  on  the  ground  immedi- 
ately begin  tumbling  head  over  heels,  and  they  continue  thus  to 
tumble  until  taken  up  and  soothed, — the  ceremony  being  generally 
to  blow  in  their  faces,  as  in  recovering  a  person  from  a  state  of 
hypnotism  or  mesmerism.  It  is  asserted  that  they  will  continue  to 
roll  over  till  they  die,  if  not  taken  up.  There  is  abundant  evidence 
with  respect  to  these  remarkable  peculiarities  ;  but  what  makes  the 
case  the  more  worthy  of  attention  is,  that  the  habit  has  been  strictly 
inherited  since  before  the  year  1600,  for  the  breed  is  distinctly  de- 
scribed in  the  'Ayeen  Akbery.' 15  Mr.  Evans  kept  a  pair  in  London, 
imported  by  Captain  Vigne ;  and  he  assures  me  that  he  has  seen 
them  tumble  in  the  air,  as  well  as  in  the  manner  above  described 
on  the  ground.  Sir  W.  Elliot,  however,  writes  to  me  from  Madras, 
that  he  is  informed  that  they  tumble  exclusively  on  the  ground, 
or  at  a  very  small  height  above  it.  He  also  mentions  another  sub- 
variety,  called  the  Kalmi  Lotan,  which  begins  to  roll  over  if  only 
touched  on  the  neck  with  a  rod  or  wand. 

Sub-race  III.  Common  English  Tumblers. — These  birds  have  ex- 
actly the  same  habits  as  the  Persian  Tumbler,  but  tumble  better. 
The  English  bird  is  rather  smaller  than  the  Persian,  and  the  beak 
is  plainly  shorter.  Compared  with  the  rock-pigeon,  and  proportion- 
ally with  the  size  of  body,  the  beak  is  from  "15  to  nearly  -2  of  an 
inch  shorter,  but  it  is  not  thinner.  There  are  several  varieties  of  the 
common  Tumbler,  namely,  Baldheads,  Beards,  and  Dutch  Rollers. 
I  have  kept  the  latter  alive ;  they  have  differently  shaped  heads, 


15  EDgHsh  translation,  by  F.  Gladwin,  present.     Mr.  Blyth  describes  these  birds 

4th  edition,  vol.  i.      The  habit  of  the  Lo-  in  '  Aunals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,'  vol. 

tan  is  also  described  in  the  Persian  trea-  xiv.,  1S47,   p.  104 :  he  says  that  they 

tise  before  alluded  to,  published  about  "  may  be  seen  at  any   of  the   Calcutta 

100  years  ago:  at  this  date  the  Lotans  bird-dealers." 
were  generally  white  and  crested  as  at 


Chap.  V.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  187 

longer  necks,  and  are  feather-footed.  They  tumble  to  an  extraor- 
dinary degree  ;  as  Mr.  Brent  remarks,16  "  Every  few  seconds  over  they 
"  go ;  one,  two,  or  three  summersaults  at  a  time.  Here  and  there  a  bird 
"  gives  a  very  quick  and  rapid  spin,  revolving  like  a  wheel,  though 
"they  sometimes  lose  their  balance,  and  make  a  rather  ungraceful 
"  fall,  in  which  they  occasionally  hurt  themselves  by  striking  some 
"object."  From  Madras  I  have  received  several  specimens  of  the 
common  Tumbler  of  India,  differing  slightly  from  each  other  in  the 
length  of  their  beaks.  Mr.  Brent  sent  me  a  dead  specimen  of  a 
"  House-tumbler,"  "  which  is  a  Scotch  variety,  not  differing  in  gen- 
eral appearance  and  form  of  beak  from  the  common  Tumbler.  Mr. 
Brent  states  that  these  birds  generally  begin  to  tumble  "  almost  as  soon 
"  as  they  can  well  fly  ;  at  three  months  old  they  tumble  well,  but  still 
"  fly  strong ;  at  five  or  six  months  they  tumble  excessively  ;  and  in 
"  the  second  year  they  mostly  give  up  flying,  on  account  of  their 
"  tumbling  so  much  and  so  close  to  the  ground.  Some  fly  round  with 
"  the  flock,  throwing  a  clean  summersault  every  few  yards,  till  they 
"are  obliged  to  settle  from  giddiness  and  exhaustion.  These  are 
"  called  Air  Tumblers,  and  they  commonly  throw  from  twenty  to 
"  thirty  sumrnersavdts  in  a  minute,  each  clear  and  clean.  I  have  one 
"  red  cock  that  I  have  on  two  or  three  occasions  timed  by  my  watch 
"and  counted  forty  summersaults  in  the  minute.  Others  tumble 
"  differently.  At  first  they  throw  a  single  summersault,  then  it  is 
"  double,  till  it  becomes  a  continuous  roll,  which  puts  an  end  to  fly- 
"  ing,  for  if  they  fly  a  few  yards  over  they  go,  and  roll  till  they 
"  reach  the  ground.  Thus  I  had  one  kill  herself,  and  another  broke 
"  his  leg.  Many  of  them  turn  over  only  a  few  inches  from  the  ground, 
"  and  will  tumble  two  or  three  times  in  flying  across  their  loft.  These 
"  are  called  House-Tumblers,  from  tumbling  in  the  house.  The  act 
"  of  tumbling  seems  to  be  one  over  which  they  have  no  control,  an 
"  involuntary  movement  which  they  seem  to  try  to  prevent.  I  have 
"  seen  a  bird  sometimes  in  his  struggles  fly  a  yard  or  two  straight 
"  upwards,  the  impulse  forcing  him  backwards  while  he  struggles 
"  to  go  forwards.  If  suddenly  startled,  or  in  a  strange  place,  they 
"  seem  less  able  to  fly  than  if  quiet  in  their  accustomed  loft."  These 
House-tumblers  differ  from  the  Lotan  or  Ground  Tumbler  of  India, 
in  not  requiring  to  be  shaken  in  order  to  begin  tumbling.  The 
breed  has  probably  been  formed  merely  by  selecting  the  best  com- 


14  'Journal  of  Horticulture,' Oct.  22,  Gardener,'  1S5S,  p.  285.    Also  Mr.  Brent's 

1S61,  p.  76.  paper,  'Journal  of  Horticulture,'  1861,  p. 

17  See  the  account  of  the  House-tum-  76. 
biers  kept  at   Glasgow,  in  the  '  Cottage 


188 


DOMESTIC    PIGEONS. 


Chap.  V. 


mon  Tumblers,  though  it  is  possible  that  they  may  have  been  crossed 
at  some  former  period  with  Lotans. 


Chap.  V.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  189 

dub-race  IV.  Short-faced  Tumblers. — These  are  marvellous  birds 
and  are  the  glory  and  pride  of  many  fanciers.  In  their  extremely 
short,  sharp,  and  conical  beaks,  with  the  skin  over  the  nostrils  but 
little  developed,  they  almost  depart  from  the  type  of  the  Coluinbida?. 
Their  heads  are  nearly  globular  and  upright  in  front,  so  that  some 
fanciers  say  18  "  the  head  should  resemble  a  cherry  with  a  barley- 
corn stuck  in  it."  These  are  the  smallest  kind  of  pigeons.  Mr.  Es- 
quilant  possessed  a  blue  Baldhead,  two  years  old,  which  when  alive 
weighed,  before  feeding-time,  only  G  oz.  5  drs. ;  two  others  each 
weighed  7  oz.  We  have  seen  that  a  wild  rock-pigeon  weighed  14 
oz.  2  drs.,  and  a  Runt  34  oz.  4  drs.  Short-faced  Tumblers  have  a 
remarkably  erect  carriage,  with  prominent  breasts,  drooping  wings, 
and  very  small  feet.  The  length  of  the  beak  from  the  tip  to  the 
feathered  base  was  in  one  good  bird  only  4  of  an  inch ;  in  a  wild 
rock-pigeon  it  was  exactly  double  this  length.  As  these  Tumblers 
have  shorter  bodies  than  the  wild  rock-pigeons,  they  ought  of  course 
to  have  shorter  beaks  ;  but  proportionally  with  the  size  of  the  body, 
the  beak  is  '28  of  an  inch  too  short.  So,  again,  the  feet  of  this  bird 
were  actually  "46  shorter,  and  proportionally  21  of  an  inch  shorter, 
than  the  feet  of  the  rock-pigeon.  The  middle  toe  has  only  twelve  or 
thirteen,  instead  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  scutellse.  The  primary  wing- 
feathers  are  not  rarely  only  nine  instead  of  ten  in  number.  The  im- 
proved short-faced  Tumblers  have  almost  lost  the  power  of  tum- 
bling ;  but  there  are  several  authentic  accounts  of  their  occasionally 
tumbling.  There  are  several  sub-varieties,  such  as  Baldheads, 
Beards,  Mottles,  and  Almonds ;  the  latter  are  remarkable  from  not 
acquiring  the  perfectly-coloured  plumage  until  they  have  moulted 
three  or  four  times.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  most  of 
these  sub-varieties,  some  of  which  breed  truly,  have  arisen  since  the 
publication  of  Moore's  treatise  in  1735.19 

Finally,  in  regard  to  the  whole  group  of  Tumblers,  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  conceive  a  more  perfect  gradation  than  I  have  now  lying  be- 
fore me,  from  the  rock-pigeon,  through  Persian,  Lotan,  and  Common 
Tumblers,  up  to  the  marvellous  short-faced  birds  ;  which  latter,  no 
ornithologist,  judging  from  mere  external  structure,  would  place  in 
the  same  genus  with  the  rock -pigeon.  The  differences  between  the 
successive  steps  in  this  series  are  not  greater  than  those  which  may 
be  observed  between  common  dovecot-pigeons  (C  livia)  brought 
from  different  countries. 


18  J.  M.  Eaton's  '  Treatise  on  Pigeons,'  ,9  J.  M.  Eaton's  Treatise,  edit.  1S58, 

1852,  p.  9.  p.  76. 


190  DOMESTIC.  PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

Race  VIII. — Indian  Frill-back. 

Beak  very  short  y  feathers  reversed. 

A  specimen  of  this  bird,  in  spirits,  was  sent  to  me  from  Madras 
by  Sir  W.  Elliot.  It  is  -wholly  different  from  the  Frill-back  often 
exhibited  in  England.  It  is  a  smallish  bird,  about  the  size  of  the 
common  Tumbler,  but  has  a  beak  in  all  its  proportions  like  our 
short-faced  Tumblers.  The  beak,  measured  from  the  tip  to  the 
feathered  base,  was  only  -46  of  an  inch  in  length.  The  feathers 
over  the  whole  body  are  reversed  or  curl  backwards.  Had  this 
bird  occurred  in  Europe,  I  should  have  thought  it  only  a  monstrous 
variety  of  our  improved  Tumbler ;  but  as  short-faced  Tumblers  are 
not  known  in  India,  I  think  it  must  rank  as  a  distinct  breed.  Proba- 
bly this  is  the  breed  seen  by  Hasselquist  in  1757  at  Cairo,  and  said 
to  have  been  imported  from  India. 

Race  IX. — Jacobin.     (Zopf  or  Peril cken-Taube  :   Non- 
nains.) 

Feathers  of  the  neck  forming  a  hood ;  wings  and  tail 
long;  beak  moderately  short. 

This  pigeon  can  at  once  be  recognised  by  its  hood,  almost  enclos- 
ing the  head  and  meeting  in  front  of  the  neck.  The  hood  seems  to 
be  merely  an  exaggeration  of  the  crest  of  reversed  feathers  on  the 
back  of  the  head,  which  is  common  to  many  sub-varieties,  and  which 
in  the  Latz-taube 20  is  in  a  nearly  intermediate  state  between  a  hood 
and  a  crest.  The  feathers  of  the  hood  are  elongated.  Both  the 
wings  and  tail  are  likewise  much  elongated  ;  thus  the  folded  wing 
of  the  Jacobin,  though  a  somewhat  smaller  bird,  is  fully  1£  inch 
longer  than  in  the  rock-pigeon.  Taking  the  length  of  the  body 
without  the  tail  as  the  standard  of  comparison,  the  folded  wing, 
proportionally  with  the  wings  of  the  rock-pigeon,  is  2£  inches  too 
long,  and  the  two  wings,  from  tip  to  tip,  5£  inches  too  long.  In 
disposition  this  bird  is  singularly  quiet,  seldom  flying  or  moving 
about,  as  Bechstein  and  Riedel  have  likewise  remarked  in  Ger- 
many.21 The  latter  author  also  notices  the  length  of  the  wings 
and  tail.  The  beak  is  nearly  -2  of  an  inch  shorter  in  proportion  to 
the  size  of  the  body  than  in  the  rock-pigeon ;  but  the  internal  gape 
of  the  mouth  is  considerably  wider. 


?°  Neumeister,  'Taubenzucht,'  Tab.  4,        26.  Bechstein,' Naturgeschichte Deutsch. 
g.  i.  lands,'  Band  iv.  s.  36, 1795. 

81  Riedel, '  Die  Taubenzucht,'  1824,  8. 


Cjat.X.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  191 


Group  IV. 

The  birds  of  this  group  may  be  characterised  by  their 
resemblance  in  all  important  points  of  structure,  espe- 
cially in  the  beak,  to  the  rock-pigeon.  The  Trumpeter 
forms  the  only  well-marked  race.  Of  the  numerous  other 
sub-races  and  varieties  I  shall  specify  only  a  few  of  the 
most  distinct,  which  I  have  myself  seen  and  kept  alive. 

Race  X. — Trumpeter.     (Trommel-Taube ;  Pigeon  tam- 
bour ;  glougou.) 

A  tuft  of  feathers  at  the  base  of  the  beak  curling  for- 
ward;  f:<:t  much feathered  y  voice  very  peculiar  ;  size  ex- 
ceeding that  of  the  rock-pigeon. 

This  is  a  •well-marked  breed,  with  a  peculiar  voice,  wholly  unlike 
that  of  any  other  pigeon.  The  coo  is  rapidly  repeated,  and  is  con- 
tinued for  several  minutes  ;  hence  their  name  of  Trumpeters.  They 
are  also  characterised  by  a  tuft  of  elongated  feathers,  which  curls 
forward  over  the  base  of  the  beak,  and  which  is  possessed  by  no 
other  breed.  Their  feet  are  so  heavily  feathered,  that  they  almost 
appear  like  little  wings.  They  are  larger  birds  than  the  rock- 
pigeon,  but  their  beak  is  of  very  nearly  the  same  proportional  size. 
Their  feet  are  rather  small.  This  breed  was  perfectly  characterised 
in  Moore's  time,  in  1735.  Mr.  Brent  says  that  two  varieties  exist, 
which  differ  in  size. 

Race  XI. — Scarcely  differing  in  structure  from  the  icild 
Columba  livia. 

Sub-race  I.  Laughers.  Size  less  tlian  the  Rock-pigeon  ;  voice  very 
peculiar. — As  this  bird  agrees  in  nearly  all  its  proportions  with  the  • 
rock-pigeon,  though  of  smaller  size,  I  should  not  have  thought  it 
worthy  of  mention,  had  it  not  been  for  its  peculiar  voice — a  cha- 
racter supposed  seldom  to  vary  with  birds.  Although  the  voice  of 
the  Laugher  is  very  different  from  that  of  the  Trumpeter,  yet  one 
of  my  Trumpeters  used  to  utter  a  single  note  like  that  of  the 
Laugher.  I  have  kept  two  varieties  of  Laughers,  which  differed 
only  in  one  variety  being  turn-crowned  ;  the  smooth-headed  kind, 
for  which  I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Brent,  besides  its 
peculiar  note,  used  to  coo  in  a  singular  and  pleasing  manner,  which, 


192  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

independently,  struck  both  Mr.  Brent  and  myself  as  resembling  that 
of  the  turtle-dove.  Both  varieties  come  from  Arabia.  This  breed 
was  known  by  Moore  in  1735.  A  pigeon  which  seems  to  say  Yak- 
roo  is  mentioned  in  1600  in  the  '  Ayeen  Akbery,'  and  is  probably  the 
same  breed.  Sir  W.  Elliot  has  also  sent  me  from  Madras  a  pigeon 
called  Yahui,  said  to  have  come  from  Mecca,  which  does  not  differ 
in  appearance  from  the  Laugher  ;  it  has  "  a  deep  melancholy  voice, 
like  Yahu,  often  repeated."  Yabu,  yahu,  means  Oh  God,  Oh  God  ; 
and  Sayzid  Mohammed  Musari,  in  the  treatise  written  about  100 
years  ago,  says  that  these  birds  "  are  not  flown,  because  they  repeat 
the  name  of  the  Most  High  God."  Mr.  Keith  Abbott,  however,  in- 
forms me  that  the  common  pigeon  is  called  Yahoo  in  Persia. 

Sub-race  II  Common  Frill-back  (Die  Strupp-Taube).  Beak  rather 
longer  than  in  the  Rock-pigeon ;  feathers  reversed. — This  is  a  con- 
siderably larger  bird  than  the  rock-pigeon,  and  with  the  beak,  pro- 
portionally with  the  size  of  body,  a  little  (viz.  by  *04  of  an  inch) 
longer.  The  feathers,  especially  on  the  wing-coverts,  have  their 
points  curled  upwards  or  backwards. 

Sub-race  III.  Nuns  (Pigeons-coquilles). — These  elegant  birds  are 
smaller  than  the  rock-pigeon.  The  beak  is  actually  -17,  and  pro- 
portionally with  the  size  of  the  body  1  of  an  inch  shorter  than  in 
the  rock -pigeons,  although  of  the  same  thickness.  In  young  birds 
the  scutellse  on  the  tarsi  and  toes  are  generally  of  a  leaden-black 
colour ;  and  this  is  a  remarkable  character  (though  observed  in  a 
lesser  degree  in  some  other  breeds),  as  the  colour  of  the  legs  in  the 
adult  state  is  subject  to  very  little  variation  in  any  breed.  I  have 
on  two  or  three  occasions  counted  thirteen  or  fourteen  feathers  in 
the  tail ;  this  likewise  occurs  in  the  barely  distinct  breed  called 
Helmets.  Nuns  are  symmetrically  coloured,  with  the  head,  primary 
wing-feathers,  tail,  and  tail-coverts  of  the  same  colour,  namely, 
black  or  red,  and  with  the  rest  of  the  body  white.  This  breed  has 
retained  the  same  character  since  Aldrovandi  wrote  in  1600.  I  have 
received  from  Madras  almost  similarly  colored  birds. 

Sub-race  IV.  Spots  (Die  Blass-Taube :  Pigeons  heurtes). — These 
birds  are  a  very  little  larger  than  the  rock- pigeon,  with  the  beak  a 
trace  smaller  in  all  its  dimensions,  and  with  the  feet  decidedly 
smaller.  They  are  symmetrically  coloured,  with  a  spot  on  the  fore- 
head, with  the  tail  and  tail-coverts  of  the  same  colour,  the  rest  of 
the  body  being  white.  This  breed  existed  in  1676  ;22  and  in  1735 
Moore  remarks  that  they  breed  truly,  as  is  the  case  at  the  present 
day. 
Sub-race  V.  Swallows. — These  birds,  as  measured  from  tip  to  tip 


22  WillougUby's  'Ornithology,'  edited  by  Ray. 


Chap.  V.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  193 

of  wing,  or  from  the  end  of  the  beak  to  the  end  of  the  tail,  exceed 
in  size  the  rock-pigeon  ;  but  their  bodies  are  much  less  bulky  ;  their 
feet  and  legs  are  likewise  smaller.  The  beak  is  of  about  the  same 
length,  but  rather  slighter.  Altogether  their  general  appearance 
is  considerably  different  from  that  of  the  rock-pigeon.  Their  heads 
and  wings  are  of  the  same  colour,  the  rest  of  the  body  being  white. 
Their  flight  is  said  to  be  peculiar.  This  seems  to  be  a  modern 
breed,  which,  however,  originated  before  the  year  1795  in  Germany, 
for  it  is  described  by  Bechstein. 

Besides  the  several  breeds  now  described,  three  or  four  other  very 
distinct  kinds  existed  lately,  or  perhaps  still  exist,  in  Germany  and 
France.  Firstly,  the  Karmeliten,  or  Carme  Pigeon,  which  I  have  not 
seen ;  it  is  described  as  of  small  size  with  very  short  legs,  and  with 
an  extremely  short  beak.  Secondly,  the  Finnikin,  which  is  now 
extinct  in  England.  It  had,  according  to  Moore's  23  treatise,  pub- 
lished in  1735,  a  tuft  of  feathers  on  the  hinder  part  of  the  head, 
which  ran  down  its  back  not  unlike  a  horse's  mane.  "  When  it  is 
salacious  it  rises  over  the  hen  and  turns  round  three  or  four  times, 
flapping  its  wings,  then  reverses  and  turns  as  many  times  the  other 
way."  The  Turner,  on  the  other  hand,  when  it  "  plays  to  the 
female,  turns  only  one  way."  Whether  these  extraordinary  state 
ments  may  be  trusted  I  know  not  ■  but  the  inheritance  of  any  habit 
may  be  believed,  after  what  we  have  seen  with  respect  to  the 
Ground-tumbler  of  India.  MM.  Boitard  and  Corbie  describe  a  pi- 
geon 24  which  has  the  singular  habit  of  sailing  for  a  considerable 
time  through  the  air,  without  flapping  its  wings,  like  a  bird  of 
prey.  The  confusion  is  inextricable,  from  the  time  of  Aldrovandi 
in  1600  to  the  present  day,  in  the  accounts  published  of  the  Draijers, 
Smiters,  Finnikins,  Turners,  Claquers,  &c,  which  are  all  remarkable 
from  their  manner  of  flight.  Mr.  Brent  informs  me  that  he  has 
seen  one  of  these  breeds  in  Germany  with  its  wing-feathers  injured 
from  having  been  so  often  struck  together  ;  but  he  did  not  see  it 
flying.  An  old  stuffed  face  of  a  Finnikin  in  the  British  Museum 
presents  no  well-marked  character.  Thirdly,  a  singular  pigeon  with 
a  forked  tail  is  mentioned  in  some  treatises  ;  and  as  Bechstein  *  briefly 
describes  and  figures  this  bird,  with  a  tail  "  having  completely  the 
structure  of  that  of  the  house-swallow,"  it  must  once  have  existed, 
for  Bechstein  was  far  too  good  a  naturalist  to  have  confounded  any 
distinct  species  with  the  domestic  pigeon.  Lastly,  an  extraordinary 
pigeon  imported  from  Belgium  has  lately  been  exhibited   at   the 


23  J.    M.    Eaton's   edition  (1858)    of       geons,'  &c,  p.  165. 
Moore,  p.  98.  25  '  Naturgescb.  Deutscblands,'  Band 

*«  Pigeon  Patu    Plongeur.  '  Lea    Pi-        Iv.  s.  47. 

9 


194  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

Pliiloperisteron  Society  in  London,26  which  "conjoins  the  colour  of 
an  archangel  with  the  head  of  an  owl  or  barb,  its  most  striking 
peculiarity  being  the  extraordinary  length  of  the  tail  and  wing- 
feathers,  the  latter  crossing  beyond  the  tail,  and  giving  to  the  bird 
the  appearance  of  a  gigantic  swift  (Cypselns),  or  long-winged 
hawk."  Mr.  Tegetmeier  informs  me  that  this  bird  weighed  only 
10  ounces,  but  in  length  was  15J  inches  from  tip  of  beak  to  end  of 
tail,  and  32^  inches  from  tip  to  tip  of  wing ;  now  the  wild  rock- 
pigeon  weighs  14^  ounces,  and  measures  from  tip  of  beak  to  end  of 
tail  15  inches,  and  from  tip  to  tip  of  wing  only  26|  inches. 

I  have  now  described  all  the  domestic  pigeons  known 
to  me,  and  have  added  a  few  others  on  reliable  authority. 
I  have  classed  them  under  four  Groups,  in  order  to  mark 
their  affinities  and  degrees  of  difference ;  but  the  third 
group  is  artificial.  The  kinds  examined  by  me  form 
eleven  races,  which  include  several  sub-races ;  and  even 
these  latter  present  differences  that  would  certainly  have 
been  thought  of  specific  value  if  observed  in  a  state  of 
nature.  The  sub-races  likewise  include  many  strictly  in- 
herited varieties ;  so  that  altogether  there  must  exist,  as 
previously  stated,  above  150  kinds  which  can  be  dis- 
tinguished, though  generally  by  characters  of  extremely 
slight  importance.  Many  of  the  genera  of  the  Colum- 
bidse,  which  are  admitted  by  ornithologists',  do  not  dif- 
fer in  any  great  degree  from  each  other ;  taking  this  into 
consideration,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  several  of  the 
most  strongly  characterised  domestic  forms,  if  found 
wild,  would  have  been  placed  in  at  least  five  new  gene- 
ra. Thus,  a  new  genus  would  have  been  formed  for  the 
reception  of  the  improved  English  Pouter:  a  second 
genus  for  Carriers  and  Runts ;  and  this  would  have  been 
a  wide  or  comprehensive  genus,  for  it  would  have  ad- 
mitted common  Spanish  Runts  without  any  wattle,  short- 
beaked  Runts  like  the  Tronfo,  and  the  improved  English 
Carrier:  a  third  genus  would  have  been  formed  for  the 
Barb :  a  fourth  for  the  Fantail :  and  lastly,  a  fifth  for  the 


26  Mr.  W.  B.  Tegetmeier,  '  Journal  of  Horticulture,'  Jan.  20th,  1863,  p.  58. 


Chap.  V.  DESCRIPTION   OF   BKEEDS.  195 

short-beaked,  not-wattled  pigeons,  such,  as  Turbits  and 
short-faced  Tumblers.  The  remaining  domestic  forms 
might  have  been  included  in  the  same  genus  with  the 
wild  rock-pigeon. 

Individual  Variability  •    Variations   of  a  remarkable 
nature. 

The  differences  which  we  have  as  yet  considered  are 
characteristic  of  distinct  breeds ;  but  there  are  other  dif- 
ferences, either  confined  to  individual  birds,  or  often  ob- 
served in  certain  breeds  but  not  characteristic  of  them. 
These  individual  differences  are  of  importance,  as  they 
might  in  most  cases  be  secured  and  accumulated  by  man's 
power  of  selection;  and  thus  an  existing  breed  might  be 
greatly  modified  or  a  new  one  formed.  Fanciers  notice 
and  select  only  those  slight  differences  which  are  exter- 
nally visible ;  but  the  whole  organisation  is  so  tied  to- 
gether by  correlation  of  groAvth,  that  a  change  in  one 
part  is  frequently  accompanied  by  other  changes.  For 
our  purpose,  modifications  of  all  kinds  are  equally  im- 
portant, and,  if  affecting  a  part  which  does  not  common- 
ly vary,  are  of  more  importance  than  a  modification  in 
some  conspicuous  part.  At  the  present  day  any  visible 
deviation  of  character  in  a  well-established  breed  is  re- 
jected as  a  blemish;  but  it  by  no  means  follows  that 
at  an  early  period,  before  well-marked  breeds  had  been 
formed,  such  deviations  would  have  been  rejected ;  on 
the  contrary,  they  would  have  been  eagerly  preserved  as 
presenting  a  novelty,  and  would  then  have  been  slowly 
augmented,  as  we  shall  hereafter  more  clearly  see,  by  the 
process  of  unconscious  selection. 

I  have  made  numerous  measurements  of  the  various  parts  of  the 
body  in  the  several  breeds,  and  have  hardly  ever  found  them  quite 
the  same  in  birds  of  the  same  breed, — the  differences  being  greater 
than  we  commonly  meet  with  in  wild  species.  To  begin  with  the 
primary  feathers  of  the  wing  and  tail ;  but  I  may  first  mention,  as 
some  readers  may  not  be  aware  of  the  fact,  that  the  number  of  the 


196  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

primary  wing  and  tail  feathers  in  wild  birds  is  generally  constant, 
and  characterises,  not  only  whole  genera,  but  even  whole  families. 
When  the  tail-feathers  are  unusually  numerous,  as  for  instance  in 
the  swan,  they  are  apt  to  be  variable  in  number ;  but  this  does  not 
apply  to  the  several  species  and  genera  of  the  Columbida?,  which 
never  (as  far  as  I  can  hear)  have  less  than  twelve  or  more  than 
sixteen  tail-feathers  ;  and  these  numbers  characterise,  with  rare  ex- 
ception, whole  sub-families.27  The  wild  rock-pigeon  has  twelve  tail- 
feathers.  With  Fantails,  as  we  have  seen,  the  number  varies  from 
fourteen  to  forty-two.  In  two  young  birds  in  the  same  nest  I 
counted  twenty-two  and  twenty-seven  feathers.  Pouters  are  very 
liable  to  have  additional  tail-feathers,  and  I  have  seen  on  several  oc- 
casions fourteen  or  fifteen  in  my  own  birds.  Mr.  Bult  had  a  speci- 
men, examined  by  Mr.  Yarrell,  with  seventeen  tail-feathers.  I  had 
a  Nun  with  thirteen,  and  another  with  fourteen  tail-feathers ;  and  in 
a  Helmet,  a  breed  barely  distinguishable  from  the  Nun,  I  have* 
counted  fifteen,  and  haATe  heard  of  other  such  instances.  On  the 
other  hand,  Mr.  Brent  possessed  a  Dragon,  which  during  its  whole  life 
never  had  more  than  ten  tail-feathers  ;  and  one  of  my  Dragons,  de- 
scended from  Mr.  Brent's,  had  only  eleven.  I  have  seen  a  Baldhead- 
Tumbler  with  only  ten  ;  and  Mr.  Brent  had  an  Air-Tumbler  with  the 
same  number,  but  another  with  fourteen  tail-feathers.  Two  of  these 
latter  Tumblers,  bred  by  Mr.  Brent,  were  remarkable, — one  from 
having  the  two  central  tail-feathers  a  little  divergent,  and  the  other 
from  having  the  two  outer  feathers  longer  by  three-eighths  of  an 
inch  than  the  others ;  so  that  in  both  cases  the  tail  exhibited  a 
tendency,  but  in  different  ways,  to  become  forked.  And  this  shows 
us  how  a  swallow-tailed  breed,  like  that  described  by  Bechstein, 
might  have  been  formed  by  careful  selection. 

With  respect  to  the  primary  wing-feathers,  the  number  in  the  Co- 
lumbidse,  as  far  as  I  can  find  out,  is  always  nine  or  ten.  In  the  rock- 
pigeon  it  is  ten ;  but  I  have  seen  no  less  than  eight  short-faced 
Tumblers  with  only  nine  primaries,  and  the  occurrence  of  this 
number  has  been  noticed  by  fanciers,  owing  to  ten  flight  feathers 
of  a  white  colour  being  one  of  the  points  in  Short-faced  Baldhead- 
Tumblers.  Mr.  Brent,  however,  had  an  Air-Tumbler  (not  short- 
faced)  which  had  in  both  wings  eleven  primaries.  Mr.  Corker,  the 
eminent  breeder  of  prize  Carriers,  assures  me  that  some  of  his  birds 


27 'Coup-d'oeilsurl'Ordredes  Pigeons,'  allied  to  each  other,   one  should  have 

par  C.  L.  Bonaparte  (Comptes  Kendus),  fourteen  tail-feathers,  while  the   other, 

1854-55.    Mr-.  Blyth,  in  '  Annals  of  Nat.  the  passenger  pigeon  of  North  America, 

Hist.,' vol.  xix.,lS47,  p.  41,  mentions,  as  should  possess  but  the  usual  number — 

a  very  singular  fact,  "  that  of  the  two  twelve."    • 
species  of  Ectopistes,  which  are  nearly 


Chap.  v.  INDIVIDUAL    VARIABILITY.  197 

had  eleven  primaries  in  both  wings.  I  have  seen  eleven  in  ono- 
■wing  in  two  Pouters.  I  have  been  assured  by  three  fanciers  that 
they  have  seen  twelve  in  Scanderoons ;  but  as  Nenmeister  asserts 
that  in  the  allied  Florence  Runt  the  middle  flight-feather  is  often 
double,  the  number  twelve  may  have  been  caused  by  two  of  the  ten 
primaries  having  each  two  shafts  to  a  single  feather.  The  second- 
ary wing-feathers  are  difficult  to  count,  but  the  number  seems  to 
vary  from  twelve  to  fifteen.  /The  length  of  the  wing  and  tail  rela- 
tively to  the  body,  and  of  the  'wings  to  the  tail,  certainly  varies  ;  I 
have  especially  noticed  this  in  Jacobins.  In  Mr.  Bult's  magnificent 
collection  of  Pouters,  the  wings  and  tail  varied  greatly  in  length  ; 
and  were  sometimes  so  much  elongated  that  the  birds  coxdd  hardly 
play  upright.  In  the  relative  length  of  the  few  first  primaries  I 
have  observed  only  a  slight  degree  of  variability.  Mr.  Brent  in- 
forms me  that  he  has  observed  the  shape  of  the  first  feather  to  vary 
very  slfghtly.  But  the  variation  in  these  latter  points  is  extremely 
slight  compared  with  what  may  often  be  observed  in  the  natural 
species  of  the  Columbidse. 

In  the  beak  I  have  observed  very  considerable  differences  in  birds 
of  the  same  breed,  as  in  carefully  bred  Jacobins  and  Trumpeters. 
In  Carriers  there  is  often  a  conspicuous  difference  in  the  degree  of 
attenuation  and  curvature  of  the  beak.  So  it  is  indeed  in  many 
breeds  :  thus  I  had  two  strains  of  black  Barbs,  which  evidently  dif- 
fered in  the  curvature  of  the  upper  mandible.  In  width  of  mouth  I 
have  found  a  great  difference  in  two  swallows.  In  Fantails  of  first- 
rate  merit  I  have  seen  some  birds  with  much  longer  and  thinner 
necks  than  in  others.  Other  analogous  facts  could  be  given.  We 
have  seen  that  the  oil-gland  is  aborted  in  all  Fantails  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  sub-race  from  Java),  and,  I  may  add,  so  hereditary  is 
this  tendency  to  abortion,  that  some,  although  not  all,  of  the  mon- 
grels from  the  Fantail  and  Pouter  had  no  oil-gland  ;  in  one  Swallow 
out  of  many  which  I  have  examined,  and  in  two  Nuns,  there  was  no 
oil-gland. 

The  number  of  the  scutellse  on  the  toes  often  varies  in  the  same 
breed,  and  sometimes  even  differs  on  the  two  feet  of  the  same  indi- 
vidual ;  the  Shetland  rock-pigeon  has  fifteen  on  the  middle,  and  six 
on  the  hinder  toe  ;  whereas  I  have  seen  a  Runt  with  sixteen  on  the 
middle,  and  eight  on  the  hind  toe  ;  and  a  short- faced  Tumbler  with 
only  twelve  and  five  on  these  same  toes.  The  rock-pigeon  has  no 
sensible  amount  of  skin  between  its  toes ;  but  I  possessed  a  Spot  and 
a  Nun  with  the  skin  extending  for  a  spac  e  of  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
from  the  fork,  between  the  two  inner  toes.  On  the  other  hand,  as 
will  hereafter  be  more  fully  shown,  pigeons  with  feathered  feet  very 
generally  have  the  bases  of  their  outer  toes  connected  by  skin.     I 


198  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

had  a  red  Tumbler,  which  had  a  coo  unlike  that  of  its  fellows,  ap- 
proaching in  tone  to  that  of  the  Laugher  :  this  bird  had  the  habit, 
to  a  degree  which  I  never  saw  equalled  in  any  other  pigeon,  of  often 
walking  with  its  wings  raised  and  arched  in  an  elegant  manner.  I 
need  say  nothing  on  the  great  variability,  in  almost  every  breed,  in 
size  of  body,  in  colour,  in  the  feathering  of  the  feet,  and  in  the 
feathers  on  the  back  of  the  head  being  reversed.  But  I  may  men- 
tion a  remarkable  Tumbler 28  exhibited  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  which 
had  an  irregular  crest  of  feathers  on  its  head,  somewhat  like  the 
tuft  on  the  head  of  the  Polish  fowl.  Mr.  Bult  reared  by  accident  a 
hen  Jacobin  with  the  feathers  on  the  thigh  so  long  as  to  reach  the 
ground,  and  a  cock  having,  but  in  a  lesser  degree,  the  same  pecu- 
liarity :  from  these  two  birds  he  bred  others  similarly  characterised, 
which  were  exhibited  at  the  Philoperisteron  Club.  I  bred  a  mon- 
grel pigeon  which  had  fibrous  feathers,  and  the  wing  and  tail- 
feathers  so  short  and  imperfect  that  the  bird  could  not  fly  even  a 
foot  in  height. 

There  are  many  singular  and  inherited  peculiarities  in 
the  plumage  of  pigeons :  thus  Almond-Tumblers  do  not 
acquire  their  perfect  mottled  feathers  until  they  have 
moulted  three  or  four  times :  the  Kite-Tumbler  is  at  first 
brindled  black  and  red  with  a  barred  appearance,  but 
when  "  it  throws  its  nest  feathers  it  becomes  almost 
black,  generally  with  a  bluish  tail,  and  a  reddish  colour 
on  the  inner  webs  of  the  primary  wing  feathers." 29  Neu- 
meister  describes  a  breed  of  a  black  colour  with  white 
bars  on  the  wing  and  a  white  crescent-shaped  mark  on 
the  breast ;  these  marks  are  generally  rusty-red  before 
the  first  moult,  but  after  the  third  or  fourth  moult  they 
undergo  a  change ;  the  wing-feathers  and  the  crown  of 
the  head  likewise  then  become  white  or  grey.30 

It  is  an  important  fact,  and  I  believe  there  is  hardly 
an  exception  to  the  rule,  that  the  especial  characters  for 
which  each  breed  is  valued  are  eminently  variable :  thus, 
in  the  Fantail,  the  number  and  direction  of  the  tail-feath- 
ers, the  carriage  of  the  body,  and  the  degree  of  trembling 


28  Described  and  figured  in  the  '  Poul-        Brent,  1859,  p.  41. 

try  Chronicle,'  vol.  iii.,  1855,  p.  82.  30  '  Die    Staarhalsige     Taube, 

29  'The  Pigeon  Book,'  by  Mr.  B.  P.        Ganze,  &c.,'  s.  21,  tab.  i.  fig.  4. 


Chap.  V.  SINGULAR    VARIATIONS.  199 

are  all  highly  variable  points;  in  Pouters,  the  degree  to 
which  they  pout,  and  the  shape  of  their  inflated  crops  ;  in 
the  Carrier,  the  length,  narrowness,  and  curvature  of  the 
beak,  and  the  amount  of  wattle  ;  in  Short-faced  Tumblers, 
the  shortness  of  the  beak,  the  prominence  of  the  forehead, 
and  general  carriage,31  and  in  the  Almond  Tumbler  the 
colour  of  the  plumage  ;  in  common  Tumblers,  the  manner 
of  tumbling ;  in  the  Barb,  the  breadth  and  shortness  of 
the  beak  and  the  amount  of  eye- wattle  ;  in  Runts,  the 
size  of  body  ;  in  Turbits,  the  frill ;  and  lastly  in  Trumpet- 
ers, the  cooing,  as  well  as  the  size  of  the  tuft  of  feathers 
over  the  nostrils.  These,  which  are  the  distinctive  and 
selected  characters  of  the  several  breeds,  are  all  eminently 
variable. 

There  is  another  interesting  fact  with  respect  to  the 
character  of  the  different  breeds,  namely,  that  they  are 
often  most  strongly  displayed  in  the  male  bird.  In  Car- 
riers, when  the  males  and  females  are  exhibited  in  sepa- 
rate pens,  the  wattle  is  plainly  seen  to  be  much  more  de- 
veloped in  the  males,  though  I  have  seen  a  hen  Carrier 
belonging  to  Mr.  Haynes  heavily  wattled.  Mr.  Teget- 
meier  informs  me  that,  in  twenty  Barbs  in  Mr.  P.  H. 
Jones's  possession,  the  males  had  generally'the  largest 
eye-wattles  ;  Mr.  Esquilant  also  believes  in  this  rule,  but 
Mr.  H.  Weir,  a  first-rate  judge,  entertains  some  doubt  on 
the  subject.  Male  Pouters  distend  their  crops  to  a  much 
greater  size  than  do  the  females ;  I  have,  however,  seen  a 
hen  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Evans  which  pouted  excel- 
lently ;  but  this  is  an  unusual  circumstance.  Mr.  Harri- 
son Weir,  a  successful  breeder  of  prize  Fantails,  informs 
me  that  his  cock  birds  often  have  a  greater  number  of 
tail-feathers  than  the  hens.  Mr.  Eaton  asserts  32  that,  if 
a  cock  and  hen  Tumbler  were  of  equal  merit,  the  hen 
would  be  worth  double  the  money;  and  as  pigeons  al- 


Sl  '  A  Treatise  on  the  Almond   Turn-        sim. 
bier,'  by  J.  M.  Eaton,  1852,  p.  8,  et  pas-  32  A  Treatise,  4c.,  p.  10. 


200  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.- V. 

ways  pair,  so  that  an  equal  number  of  both  sexes  is  ne- 
cessary for  reproduction,  this  seems  to  show  that  high 
merit  is  rarer  in  the  female  than  in  the  male.  In  the  de- 
velopment of  the  frill  in  Turbits,  of  the  hood  in  Jacobins, 
of  the  tuft  in  Trumpeters,  of  tumbling  in  Tumblers,  there 
is  no  difference  between  the  males  and  females.  I  may 
here  add'a  rather  different  case,  namely,  the  existence  in 
France 33  of  a  wine-coloured  variety  of  the  Pouter,  in 
which  the  male  is  generally  chequered  with  black,  whilst 
the  female  is  never  so  chequered.  Dr.  Chapuis  also  re- 
marks34 that  in  certain  light-coloured  pigeons  the  males 
have  their  feathers  striated  with  black,  and  these  stria? 
increase  in  size  at  each  moult,  so  that  the  male  ultimately 
becomes  spotted  with  black.  With  Carriers,  the  wattle, 
both  on  the  beak  and  round  the  eyes,  and  with  Barbs 
that  round  the  eyes,  goes  on  increasing  with  age.  This 
augmentation  of  character  with  advancing  age,  and  more 
especially  the  difference  between  the  males  and  females 
in  the  above-mentioned  several  respects,  are  highly  re- 
markable facts,  for  there  is  no  sensible  difference  at  any 
age  between  the  two  sexes  in  the  aboriginal  rock-pigeon; 
and  rarely  any  such  difference  throughout  the  whole  fam- 
ily of  the  Columbid;e.3B 

Osteological  Characters. 

In  the  skeletons  of  the  various  breeds  there  is  much 
variability ;  and  though  certain  differences  occur  frequent- 
ly, and  others  rarely,  in  certain  breeds,  yet  none  can  be 


33  Boitard  and  Corbie,  '  Les  Pigeons,'  base  of  the  beak  in  the  Carpophaga 
&c,  1824,  p.  173.  oceanica  is  sexual ;  this,  if  correct,  is  an 

34  '  Le  Pigeon  Voyageur  Beige,'  1865,  interesting  point  of  analogy  with  the  male 
p.  87.  Carrier,  which  has  the  wattle  at  the  base 

35  Prof.  A.  Newton  (' Proc.  Zoolog.  of  its  beak  so  much  more  developed  than 
Soc.,'  1865,  p.  716)  remarks  that  he  in  the  female.  Mr.  Wallace  informs  me 
knows  no  species  which  presents  any  re-  that  in  the  sub-family  of  the  Treronidae 
markable  sexual  distinction  ;  but  it  is  the  sexes  often  differ  in  vividness  of 
stated  ('  Naturalist's  Library,  Birds,'  vol.  colour. 

ix.  p.  117)  that  the  excrescence  at  the 


Chap.  V. 


OSTEOLOGIOAL    DIFFERENCES. 


201 


said  to  be  absolutely  characteristic  of  any  breed.  Con- 
sidering that  strongly  marked  domestic  races  have  been 
formed  chiefly  by  man's  power  of  selection,  we  ought  not 
to  expect  to  find  great  and  constant  differences  in  the 
skeleton ;  for  fanciers  can  neither  see,  nor  do  they  care 
for,  modifications  of  structure  in  the  internal  framework. 
Nor  ought  we  to  ex- 
pect changes  in  the 
skeletons  from 
changed  habits  of 
life;  as  every  facili- 
ty is  given  to  the 
most  distinct  breeds 
to  follow  the  same 
habits,  and  the  much 
m6di6ed  races  are 
never  allowed  to 
wander  abroad  and 


Fig.  24.— Skulls  of  Pigeons,  viewed  laterally,  of  natural  size.  A.  Wild  Rock- 
pigeon,  Cohtmba  livia.  B.  Short-faced  Tumbler.  C  English  Carrier.  D. 
Bagadotten  Carrier. 


procure  their  own  food  in  various  ways.     Moreover,  I 


202 


DOMESTIC   PIGEONS. 


Chap.  V. 


find,  on  comparing  the  skeletons  of  Columba  livia,  ceiias, 
palumbus,  and  turtur,  which  are  ranked  by  all  systema- 
tists  in  two  or  three  distinct  though  allied  genera,  that 
the  differences  are  extremely  slight,  certainly  less  than 
between  the  skeletons  of  some  of  the  most  distinct  do- 
mestic breeds.  How  far  the  skeleton  of  the  wild  rock- 
pigeon  is  constant  I  have  no  means  of  judging,  as  I  have 
examined  only  two. 

Skull. — The  individual  bones,  especially  those  at  the  base,  do  not 
differ  in  shape.  But  the  whole  skull,  in  its  proportions,  outline, 
and  relative  direction  of  the  bones,  differs  greatly  in  some  of  the 
breeds,  as  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  figures  of  (a)  the  wild 
rock-pigeon,  (b)  the  short-faced  tumbler,  (c)  the  English  carrier,  and 
(d)  the  Bagadotten  carrier  (of  Neumeister),  all  drawn  of  the  natural 
size  and  viewed  laterally.  In  the  carrier,  besides  the  elongation  of 
the  bones  of  the  face,  the  space  between  the  orbits  is  proportionally  a 
little  narrower  than  in  the  rock-pigeon.  In  the  Bagadotten  the  upper 
mandible  is  remarkably  arched,  and  the  premaxillary  bones  are  pro- 
portionally broader.  In  the  short-faced  tumbler  the  skull  is  more 
globular ;  all  the  bones  of  the  face  are  much  shortened,  and  the  front 
of  the  skull  and  descending  nasal  bones  are  almost  perpendicular ;  the 
masillo-jugal  arch  and  premaxillary  bones  form  an  almost  straight 
line ;  the  space  between  the  prominent  edges  of  the  eye-orbits  is 


Fig.  25 — Lower  jaws,  seen  from  above,  of  natural  size.    A.  Rock-pigeon.    B.  Runt. 
C.  Barb. 


Chap.  V. 


OSTEOLOGICAL    DIFFERENCES. 


203 


depressed.  In  the  barb  the  premaxillary  bones  arc  much  short- 
ened, and  their  anterior  portion  is  thicker  than  in  the  rock-pigeon, 
as  is  the  lower  part  of  the  nasal  bone.  In  two  nuns  the  ascending 
branches  of  the  premaxillaries,  near  their  tips,  were  somewhat  at- 
tenuated, and  in  these  birds,  as  well  as  in  some  others,  for  instance 
in  the  spot,  the  occipital  crest  over  the  foramen  was  considerably 
more  prominent  than  in  the  rock-pigeon. 

In  the  lower  jaw,  the  articular  surface  is  proportionally  smaller 
in  many  breeds  than  in  the  rock-pigeon  ;  and  the  vertical  diameter 
more  especially  of  the  outer  part  of  the  articular  surface  is  consid- 
erably shorter.  May  not  this  be  accounted  for  by  the  lessened  use 
of  the  jaws,  owing  tb  nutritious  food  having  been  given  during  a 
long  period  to  all  highly  improved  pigeons  ?  In  runts,  carriers, 
and  barbs  (and  in  a  lesser  degree  in  several  breeds),  the  whole  side 


Fig.  27. — Lateral  view  of  jaws,  of  natural  size. 
A.  Rock-pigeon.  B .  Short-faced  Tumbler.  C. 
Bagadotten  Carrier. 

of  the  jaw  near  the  articular  end  is  bent 
inwards  in  a  highly  remarkable  manner  ; 
and  the  superior  margin  of  the  ramus,  be- 
yond the  middle,  is  reflexed  in  an  equally 
remarkable  manner,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
accompanying  figures,  in  comparison  with 
the  jaw  of  the  rock-pigeon.  This  reflexion 
of  the  upper  margin  of  the  lower  jaw  is 
plainly  connected  with  the  singularly 
wide  gape  of  the  mouth,  as  has  been  described  in  runts,  carriers,  and 
barbs.  The  reflexion  is  well  shown  in  fig.  26  of  the  head  of  a  runt 
seen  from  above ;  here  a  wide  open  space  may  be  observed  on  each 


Fig.  26.— Skull  of  Runt,  seen 
from  above,  of  natural  size, 
showing  the  reflexed  mar- 
gin of  the  distal  portion  of 
the  lower  jaw. 


204  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  v. 

side,  between  the  edges  of  the  lower  jaw  and  of  the  premaxillary 
bones.  In  the  rock-pigeon,  and  in  several  domestic  breeds,  the 
edges  of  the  lower  jaw  on  each  side  come  close  up  to  the  premaxil- 
lary bones,  so  that  no  open  space  is  left.  The  degree  of  downward 
curvature  of  the  distal  half  of  the  lower  jaw  also  differs  to  an  ex- 
traordinary degree  in  some  breeds,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  drawings 
(fig.  a)  of  the  rock-pigeon,  (b)  of  the  short-faced  tumbler,  and  (c)  of 
the  Bagadotten  carrier  of  Neumeister.  In  some  runts  the  symphy- 
sis of  the  lower  jaw  is  remarkably  solid.  No  one  would  readily 
have  believed  that  jaws  differing  so  greatly  in  the  several  above- 
specified  points  could  have  belonged  to  the  same  species. 

Vertebras. — All  the  breeds  have  twelve  cervical  vertebrae.36  But 
in  a  Bussorah  carrier  from  India,  the  twelfth  vertebra  carried  a 
small  rib,  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  length,  with  a  perfect  double  arti- 
culation. 

The  dorsal  vertebra  are  always  eight.  In  the  rock-pigeon  all  eight 
bear  ribs  ;  the  eighth  rib  being  very  thin,  and  the  seventh  having 
no  process.  In  pouters  all  the  ribs  are  extremely  broad,  and,  in  three 
out  of  four  skeletons  examined  by  me,  the  eighth  rib  was  twice  or 
even  thrice  as  broad  as  in  the  rock-pigeon ;  and  the  seventh  pair  had 
distinct  processes.  In  many  breeds  there  are  only  seven  ribs,  as  in 
seven  out  of  eight  skeletons  of  various  tumblers,  and  in  several  ske- 
letons of  fantails,  turbits,  and  nuns.  In  all  these  breeds  the  seventh 
pair  was  very  small,  and  was  destitute  of  processes,  in  which  respect 
it  differed  from  the  same  rib  in  the  rock-pigeon.  In  one  tumbler, 
and  in  the  Bussorah  carrier,  even  the  sixth  pair  had  no  process. 
The  hypapophysis  of  the  second  dorsal  vertebra  varies  much  in  de- 
velopment ;  being  sometimes  (as  in  several,  but  not  all  tumblers) 
nearly  as  prominent  as  that  of  the  third  dorsal  vertebra;  and  the 
two  hypapophyses  together  tend  to  form  an  ossified  arch.  The  de- 
velopment of  the  arch,  formed  by  the  hypapophyses  of  the  third  and 
fourth  dorsal  vertebrae,  also  varies  considerably,  as  does  the  size  of 
the  hypapophysis  of  the  fifth  vertebra. 

The  rock-pigeon  has  twelve  sacral  vertebrai ;  but  these  vary  in 
number,  relative  size,  and  distinctness  in  the  different  breeds.  In 
pouters,  with  their  elongated  bodies,  there  are  thirteen  or  even  four- 
teen, and,  as  we  shall  immediately  see,  an  additional  number  of 
caudal  vertebrae.  In  runts  and  carriers  there  is  generally  the  pro- 
per number,  namely  twelve ;  but  in  one  runt,  and  in  the  Bussorah 


36  I  am  not  sure  that  I  have  designa-  rules,  and,  as  I  use  the  same  terms  in 

ted  the  different  kinds  of  vertebra?  cor-  the  comparison  of  all  the  skeletons,  this, 

rectly;  but  I  observe  that  different  ana-  I  hope,  will  not  signify, 
tomists   follow  in  this   respect  different 


ClIAP.    V. 


OSTEOLOGICAL    DIFFERENCES. 


205 


carrier,  there  were  only  eleven.  In  tumblers  there  are  either  eleven, 
twelve,  or  thirteen  sacral  vertebra. 

The  caudal  V6i  tebroi  are  seven  in  number  in  the  rock-pigeon.  In 
fantails,  which  have  their  tails  so  largely  developed,  there  are  either 
eight  or  nine,  and  apparently  in  one  case  ten,  and  they  are  a  little 
longer  than  in  the  rock-pigeon,  and  their  shape  varies  considerably. 
Pouters,  also,  have  eight  or  nine  caudal  vertebra?.  I  have  seen  eight 
in  a  nun  and  jacobin.  Tumblers,  though  such  small  birds,  always 
have  the  normal  number  seven  ;  as  have  carriers,  with  one  excep- 
tion, in  which  there  were  only  six. 

The  following  table  will  serve  as  a  summary,  and  will  show  the 
most  remarkable  deviations  in  the  number  of  the  vertebrae  and  ribs 
which  I  have  observed : — 


Rock  Pigeon. 

Pouter,  from 
Mr.  Bult. 

Tumbler, 
Dutch  Roller. 

Bussorah 
Carrier. 

Cervical  Vertebras 

13 

13 

13 

13 

The  ifith  linre 
a  sm;ill   rib. 

Dorsal  Vertebra? 
"    Ribs    .. 

8 
8 

The  6th  pair  with 

processes, the  7th 

pair  without  a 

process. 

8 

8 

The  6th  and 

7th  pair  with 

processes. 

8 

7 

The  6th  and  7th 

pair  without 

processes. 

8 

7 

The  6th  and 

7th  pair 
without  pro- 
cesses. 

Sacral  Vertebra? 
Caudal  Vertebra? 

12 

7 

14 
8  or  9 

.11 

7 

11 

7 

Total  Vertebra? 

39 

43  or  43 

38 

38 

The  pelvis  differs  very  little  in  any  breed.  The  anterior  margin 
of  the  ilium,  however,  is  sometimes  a  little  more  equally  rounded  on 
both  sides  than  in  the  rock-pigeon.  The  ischium  is  also  frequently 
rather  more  elongated.  The  obturator-notch  is  sometimes,  as  in 
many  tumblers,  less  developed  than  in  the  rock-pigeon.  The  ridges 
on  the  ilium  are  very  prominent  in  most  runts. 

In  the  bones  of  the  extremities  I  could  detect  no  difference,  except 
in  their  proportional  lengths  ;  for  instance,  the  metatarsus  in  a  pout- 
er was  1G5  inch,  and  in  a  short-faced  tumbler  only  -95  in  length  ; 
and  this  is  a  greater  difference  than  would  naturally  follow  from 
their  differently-sized  bodies  ;  but  long  legs  in  the  pouter,  and  small 
feet  in  the  tumbler,  are  selected  points.  In  some  pouters  the  scapula 
is  rather  straighter,  and  in  some  tumblers  it  is  straighter,  with  the 
apex  less  elongated,  than  in  the  rock-pigeon :  in  the  woodcut,  fig, 
28,  the  scapula?  of  the  rock-pigeon  (a),  and  of  a  short-faced  tumbler 


206 


DOMESTIC   PIGEONS. 


Chap.  V. 


A  B 

Fig.  28.  —  Scapulae,  of  natu- 
ral size.  A.  Rock-pigeon. 
B.  Short-faced  Tumbler. 


(b),  are  given.  The  processes  at  the  sum- 
mit of  the  coracoid,  which  receive  the  ex- 
tremities of  the  furcula,  form  a  more  perfect 
cavity  in  some  tum- 
blers than  in  the 
rock-pigeon  :  in 
pouters  these  pro- 
cesses are  larger 
and  differently 
shaped,  and  the  ex- 
terior angle  of  the 
extremity  of  the 
coracoid,  which  is 
articidated  to  the 
sternum,  is  squar- 
er. 

The  two  arms  of 
ikefurcula  in  pout- 
ers diverge  less, 
proportionally  to  their  length,  than  in  the 
rock-pigeon  ;  and  the  symphysis  is  more  so- 
lid and  pointed.  In  fantails  the  degree  of  di- 
vergence of  the  two  arms  varies  in  a  remark- 
able manner.  In  fig.  29,  b  and  c  represent 
the  furcula?  of  two  fantails  ;  and  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  divergence  in  B  is  rather  less 
even  than  in  the  furcula  of  the  short-faced, 
small-sized  tumbler  (a)  ;  whereas  the  diver- 
gence in  c  equals  that  in  a  rock-pigeon,  or 
in  the  pouter  (d),  though  the  latter  is  a  much 
larger  bird.  The  extremities  of  the  furcu- 
la, where  articulated  to  the  coracoid s,  vary 
eonsiderably  in  outline. 

In  the  sternum  the  differences  in  form  are 
slight,  except  in  the  size  and  outline  of  the 
perforations,  which,  both  in  the  larger  and 
lesser  sized  breeds,  are  sometimes  small. 
These  perforations,  also,  are  sometimes  eith- 
er nearly  circular,  or  elongated,  as  is  often 
the  case  with  carriers.  The  posterior  perfo- 
rations occasionally  are  not  complete,  being  Fig.  29.— Furcula?,  of  natu- 
left  open  posteriorly.  The  marginal  apophy- 
ses forming  the  anterior  perforations  vary 
greatly  in  development.      The  degree  of 


ral  size.  A.  Short-faced 
Tumbler.  B  and  C.  Fan- 
tails.    D.  Pouter. 


Chap.  V.  CORRELATION"    OF    GROWTH.  207 

convexity  of  the  posterior  part  of  the  sternum  differs  much,  being 
sometimes  almost  perfectly  flat.  The  manubrium  is  rather  more 
prominent  in  some  individuals  than  in  others,  and  the  pore  imme- 
diately under  it  varies  greatly  in  size. 

Correlation  of  Growth. — By  this  term  I  mean  that  the 
whole  organisation  is  so  connected,  that  when  one  part 
varies,  other  parts  vary;  but  which  of  two  correlated 
variations  ought  to  be  looked  at  as  the  cause  and  which 
as  the  effect,  or  whether  both  result  from  some  common 
cause,  we  can  seldom  or  never  tell.  The  point  of  interest 
for  us  is  that,  when  fanciers,  by  the  continued  selection 
of  slight  variations,  have  largely  modified  one  part,  they 
often  unintentionally  produce  other  modifications.  For 
instance,  the  beak  is  readily  acted  on  by  selection,  and, 
with  its  increased  or  diminished  length,  the  tongue  in- 
creases or  diminishes,  but  not  in  due  proportion  ;  for,  in 
a  barb  and  short-faced  tumbler,  both  of  which  have  very 
short  beaks,  the  tongue,  taking  the  rock-pigeon  as  the 
standard  of  comparison,  was  proportionally  not  shorten- 
ed enough,  whilst  in  two  carriers  and  in  a  runtime  tongue, 
proportionally  with  the  beak,  was  not  lengthened  enough. 
Thus,  in  a  first-rate  English  carrier,  in  which  the  beak  from 
the  tip  to  the  feathered  base  was  exactly  thrice  as  long  as  in ' 
a  first-rate  short-faced  tumbler,  the  tongue  was  only  a  little 
more  than  twice  as  long.  But  the  tongue  varies  in  length 
independently  of  the  beak :  thus,  in  a  carrier  with  a  beak 
1*2  inch  in  length,  the  tongue  was  *67  in  length;  whilst 
in  a*  runt  which  equalled  the  carrier  in  length  of  body 
and  in  stretch  of  wings  from  tip  to  tip,  the  beak  was  '92 
whilst  the  tongue  was  *73  of  an  inch  in  length,  so  that  the 
tongue  was  actually  longer  than  in  the  carrier  with  its 
long  beak.  The  tongue  of  the  runt  was  also  very  broad 
at  the  root.  Of  two  runts,  one  had  its  beak  longer  by 
•23  of  an  inch,  whilst  its  tongue  was  shorter  by  *14  than 
in  the  other. 

With  the  increased  or  diminished  length  of  the  beak 
the  length  of  the  slit  forming  the  external  orifice  of  the 


208  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  v. 

nostrils  varies,  but  not  in  due  proportion,  for,  taking  the 
rock-pigeon  as  the  standard,  the  orifice  in  a  short-faced 
tumbler  was  not  shortened  in  due  proportion  with  its  very 
short  beak.  On  the  other  hand  (and  this  could  not  have 
been  anticipated),  the  orifice  in  three  English  carriers,  in 
the  Bagadotten  carrier,  and  in  a  runt  {pigeon  cygne),  was 
longer  by  above  the  tenth  of  an  inch  than  would  follow 
from  the  length  of  the  beak  proportionally  with  that  of 
the  rock-pigeon.  In  one  carrier  the  orifice  of  the  nostrils 
was  thrice  as  long  as  in  the  rock-pigeon,  though  in  body 
and  length  of  beak  this  bird  was  not  nearly  double  the 
size  of  the  rock-pigeon.  This  greatly  increased  length 
of  the  orifice  of  the  nostrils  seems  to  stand  partly  in  cor- 
relation with  the  enlargement  of  the  wattled  skin  on  the 
upper  mandible  and  over  the  nostrils ;  and  this  is  a  cha- 
racter which  is  selected  by  fanciers.  So  again,  the  broad, 
naked,  and  wattled  skin  round  the  eyes  of  carriers  and 
barbs  is  a  selected  character ;  and  in  obvious  correlation 
with  this,  the  eyelids  measured  longitudinally,  are  pro- 
portionally* more  than  double  the  length  of  those  of  the 
rock-pigeon. 

The  great  difference  (see  woodcut  No.  27)  in  the  cur- 
"  vature  of  the  lower  jaw  in  the  rock-pigeon,  the  tumbler, 
and  Bagadotten  carrier,  stands  in  obvious  relation  to  the 
curvature  of  the  upper  jaw,  and  more  especially  to  the  an- 
gle formed  by  the  maxillo-jugal  arch  with  the  premaxil- 
lary  bones.  But  in  carriers,  runts,  and  barbs  the  singu- 
lar reflexion  of  the  upper  margin  of  the  middle  part  of  the 
lower  jaw  (see  woodcut  No.  25)  is  not  strictly  correlated 
with  the  width  or  divergence  (as  may  be  clearly  seen  in 
woodcut  No.  26)  of  the  premaxillary  bones,  but  with  the 
breadth  of  the  horny  and  soft  parts  of  the  upper  mandible, 
which  are  always  overlapped  by  the  edges  of  the  lower 
mandible. 

In  pouters,  the  elongation  of  the  body  is  a  selected  cha- 
racter, and  the  ribs,  as  we  have  seen,  have  generally  be- 
come very  broad,  with  the  seventh  pair  furnished  with 


Chap.  v.  CORRELATION    OF    GROWTH.  209 

processes ;  the  sacral  and  caudal  vertebra?  have  been  aug- 
mented in  number  ;  the  sternum  has  likewise  increased  in 
length  (but  not  in  the  depth  of  the  crest)  by  *4  of  an  inch 
more  than  would  follow  from  the  greater  bulk  of  the  body- 
in  comparison  with  that  of  the  rock-pigeon.  In  fantails, 
the  length  and  number  of  the  caudal  vertebra?  have  in- 
creased. Hence,  during  the  gradual  progress  of  varia- 
tion and  selection,  the  internal  bony  frame-work  and  the 
external  shape  of  the  body  have  been,  to  a  certain  extent, 
modified  in  a  correlated  manner. 

Although  the  wings  and  tail  often  vary  in  length  in- 
dependently of  each  other,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  doubt 
that  they  generally  tend  to  become  elongated  or  short- 
ened in  correlation.  This  is  well  seen  in  jacobins,  and 
still  more  plainly  in  runts,  some  varieties  of  which  have 
their  wings  and  tail  of  great  length,  whilst  others  have 
both  very  short.  With  jacobins,  the  remarkable  length 
of  the  tail  and  wing-feathers  is  not  a  character  which  is 
intentionally  selected  by  fanciers  ;  but  fanciers  have  been 
trying  for  centuries,  at  least  since  the  year  1600,  to  in- 
crease the  length  of  the  reversed  feathers  on  the  neck,  so 
that  the  hood  may  more  completely  enclose  the  head ; 
and  it  may  be  suspected  that  the  increased  length  of  the 
wing  and  tail-feathers  stands  in  correlation  with  the  in- 
creased length  of  the  neck-feathers.  Short- faced  tumblers 
have  short  wings  in  nearly  due  proportion  with  the  re- 
duced size  of  their  bodies ;  but  it  is  remarkable,  seeing 
that  the  number  of  the  primary  wing-feathers  is  a  con- 
stant character  in  most  birds,  that  these  tumblers  gene- 
rally have  only  nine  instead  of  ten  primaries.  I  have 
myself  observed  this  in  eight  birds;  and  the  Original 
Columbarian  Society  3T  reduced  the  standard  for  bald-head 
tumblers  from  ten  to  nine  white  flight-feathers,  thinking 
it  unfair  that  a  bird  which  had  only  nine  feathers  should 
be  disqualified  for  a  prize  because  it  had  not  ten  white 


37  J.  M.  Eaton's  Treatise,  edit.  1S5S,  p.  78. 


210  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

flight-feathers.  On  the  other  hand,  in  carriers  and  runts, 
which  have  large  bodies  and  long  wings,  eleven  primary- 
feathers  have  occasionally  been  observed. 

Mr.  Tegetrneier  has  informed  me  of  a  curious  and  in- 
explicable case  of  correlation,  namely,  that  young  pigeons 
of  all  breeds,  which  when  mature  become  white,  yellow, 
silver,  («.  e.  extremely  pale  blue),  or  dun-coloured,  are  born 
almost  naked  ;  whereas  other  coloured  pigeons  are  born 
well  clothed  with  down.  Mr.  Esquilant,  however,  has 
observed  that  young  dun  carriers  are  not  so  bare  as 
young  dun  barbs  and  tumblers.  Mr.  Tegetrneier  has 
seen  two  young  birds  in  the  same  nest,  produced  from 
differently  coloured  parents,  which  differed  greatly  in 
the  degree  to  which  they  were  at  first  clothed  with 
down. 

I  have  observed  another  case  of  correlation  which  at 
first  sight  appears  quite  inexplicable,  but  on  which,  as 
we  shall  see  in  a  future  chapter,  some  light  can  be  thrown 
by  the  law  of  homologous  parts  vai'ying  in  the  same 
manner.  The  case  is,  that,  when  the  feet  ai*e  much 
feathered,  the  roots  of  the  feathers  are  connected  by  a 
web  of  skin,  and  apparently  in  correlation  with  this  the 
two  outer  toes  become  connected  for  a  considerable  space 
by  skin.  I  have  observed  this  in  very  many  specimens 
of  pouters,  trumpeters,  swallows,  roller-tumblers  (like- 
wise observed  in  this  breed  by  Mr.  Brent),  and  in  a  lesser 
degree  in  other  feather-footed  pigeons. 

The  feet  of  the  smaller  and  larger  breeds  are  of  course 
much  smaller  or  larger  than  those  of  the  rock-pigeon ; 
but  the  scutellae  or  scales  covering  the  toes  and  tarsi 
have  not  only  decreased  or  increased  in  size,  but  likewise 
in  number.  To  give  a  single  instance,  I  have  counted 
eight  scutelhe  on  the  hind  toe  of  a  runt,  and  only  five  on 
that  of  a  short-faced  tumbler.  With  birds  in  a  state  of 
nature  the  number  of  the  scutelloe  on  the  feet  is  usually 
a  constant  character.  The  length  of  the  feet  and  the 
length  of  the  beak  apparently  stand  in  correlation;  but 


Chap.  V.  ON    THE    EFFECTS    OF    DISUSE.  211 

as  disuse  apparently  has  affected  the  size  of  the  feet,  this 
case  may  coine  under  the  following  discussion. 

On  the  Effects  of  Disuse. — In  the  following  discussion 
on  the  relative  proportions  of  the  feet,  sternum,  furcula, 
scapula?,  and  wings,  I  may  premise,  in  order  to  give  some 
confidence  to  the  reader,  that  my  measurements  were  all 
made  in  the  same  manner,  and  that  all  the  measurements 
of  the  external  parts  were  made  without  the  least  inten- 
tion of  applying  them  to  the  following  purpose. 

I  measured  most  of  the  birds  which  came  into  my  possession,  from 
the  feathered  base  of  the  beak  (the  length  of  beak  itself  being  so 
variable)  to  the  end  of  the  tail,  and  to  the  oil-gland,  but  unfortu- 
nately (except  in  a  few  cases)  not  to  the  root  of  the  tail ;  I  measured 
each  bird  from  the  extreme  tip  to  tip  of  wing ;  and  the  length  of 
the  terminal  folded  part  of  the  wing,  from  the  extremity  of  the 
primaries  to  the  joint  of  the  radius.  I  measured  the  feet  without 
the  claws,  from  the  end  of  the  middle  toe  to  the  end  of  the  hind 
toe  j  and  the  tarsus  together  with  the  middle  toe.  I  have  taken  in 
every  case  the  mean  measurement  of  two  wild  rock-pigeons  from 
the  Shetland  Islands,  as  the  standard  of  compai'ison.  The  following 
table  shows  the  actual  length  of  the  feet  in  each  bird ;  and  the 
difference  between  the  length  which  the  feet  ought  to  have  had 
according  to  the  size  of  body  of  each,  in  comparison  with  the  size 
of  body  and  length  of  feet  of  the  rock-pigeon,  calculated  (with  a 
few  specified  exceptions)  by  the  standard  of  the  length  of  the  body 
from  the  base  of  the  beak  to  the  oil-gland.  I  have  preferred  this 
standard,  owing  to  the  variability  of  the  length  of  tail.  But  I  have 
made  similar  calculations,  taking  as  the  standard  the  length  from 
tip  to  tip  of  wing,  and  likewise  in  most  cases  from  the  base  of  the 
beak  to  the  end  of  the  tail ;  and  the  result  has  always  been  closely 
similar.  To  give  an  example :  the  first  bird  in  the  table,  being  a 
short-faced  tumbler,  is  much  smaller  than  the  rock-pigeon,  and 
would  naturally  havo  shorter  feet ;  but  it  is  found  on  calculation  to 
have  feet  too  short  by  '11  of  an  inch,  in  comparison  with  the  feet  of 
the  rock-pigeon,  relatively  to  the  size  of  the  body  in  these  two  birds, 
as  measured  from  the  base  of  beak  to  the  oil-gland.  So  again, 
when  this  same  tumbler  and  the  rock-pigeon  were  compared  by  the 
length  of  their  wings,  or  by  the  extreme  length  of  their  bodies,  the 
feet  of  the  tumbler  were  likewise  found  to  be  too  short  jn  very 
nearly  the  same  proportion.     I  am  well  aware  that  the  measure- 


212 


DOMESTIC    PIGEONS. 


Chap.  V. 


ments  pretend  to  greater  accuracy  than  is  possible,  but  it  was  less 
trouble  to  write  down  the  actual  measurements  given  by  the  com- 
passes in  each  case  than  an  approximation. 

Table  I. 

Pigeons  with  their  beaks  generally  shorter  than  that  of  the  Rock- 
2)igeon,  proportionally  with  the  size  of  their  bodies. 


Name  of  Breed. 


Wild  rock-pigeon  (mean  measure-) 
ment) ) 

Short-faced  Tumbler,  bald-head . .     . . 
,,    .  „  almond     . . 

Tumbler,  red  magpie     

„        red  common  (by  standard  \ 

to  end  of  tail)  . .     . .      J 

„        common  bald-head      . .     . . 

„        roller 

Turbit     

Jacobin  . .' 

Trumpeter,  white     

„  mottled . .     , 

Fantail  (by  standard  to  end  of  tail) . . 


Difference 

between 

actual  and  calculated 

Actual 

length  of  feet,  in 

length 

proportion 

o  length  of 

of 

feet  and  size  of  body 

Feet. 

in  the  Rock-pigeon. 

202 

Too  short 

Too  long 

by 

by 

1-57 

011 

1-60 

016 

1-75 

019 

1-85 

007 

1-85 

048 

1-80 

006 

1-75 

017 

1-80 

001 

1-84 

015 

1-90 

002 

202 

006 

1-95 

048 

1-85 

015 

1-95 

015 

1-95 

00 

00 

1-80 

019 

210 

003 

1-82 

0-02 

1(85 

016 

200 

003 

200 

003 

1-90 

002 

1-90 

007 

1-85 

018 

200 

003 

2-42 

011 

2  30 

009 

247 

•  • 

009 

„     crested  var. 
Indian  Frill-back 
English  Frill  back 

Nun 

Laugher       . . 
Barb        


Spot 


Swallow,  red 

blue    . , 

Pouter 

„       German  . 
Bussorah  Carrier 


Number  of  specimens 


28 


22 


Chap.  V. 


ON    THE    EFFECTS    OF   DISUSE. 


213 


Table  II. 

Pigeons  with  their  beaks  longer  than  that  of  the  Rock-pigeon, 
proportionally  with  the  size  of  their  bodies. 


Name  of  Breed. 
Wild  rock-pigeon  (mean  measurement) 

Actual 
length 

of 
Feet. 

2-02# 

pifference  between 
actual  and  calculated 

length  of  feet,  in 

proportion  to  length  of 

feet  and  size  of  body 

in  the  Rock-pigeon. 

Too  short 

by 

Too  long 

i'y 

2-60 
260 
2  40 
2  25 
2-80 
2-80 
2-85 
275 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

31 
25 
21 
06 
56 
37 
29 
R7 

"           Pigeon  cygne 
Runt      

Number  of  specimens 

8 

8. 

In  these  two  tables  we  see  in  the  first  column  the  actual  length 
of  the  feet  in  thirty-six  birds  belonging  to  various  breeds,  and  in  the 
two  other  columes  we  see  by  how  much  the  feet  are  too  short  or  too 
long,  according  to  the  size  of  bird,  in  comparison  with  the  rock-pi- 
geon. In  the  first  table  twenty-two  specimens  have  their  feet  too 
short,  on  an  average  by  a  little  above  the  tenth  of  an  inch  (viz.  -107)  ; 
and  five  specimens  have  their  feet  on  an  average  a  very  little  too 
long,  namely,  by  07  of  an  inch.  But  some  of  these  latter  and  ex- 
ceptional cases  can  be  explained  :  for  instance,  with  pouters  the  legs 
and  feet  are  selected  for  length,  and  thus  any  natural  tendency  to  a 
diminution  in  the  length  of  the  feet  will  have  been  counteracted. 
In  the  swallow  and  barb,  when  the  calculation  was  made  on  any 
standard  of  comparison  excepting  the  one  above  used  (viz.  length 
of  body  from  base  of  beak  to  oil-gland),  the  feet  were  found  to  be  too 
small. 

In  the  second  table  we  have  eight  birds,  with  their  beaks  much 
longer  than  in  the  rock  pigeon,  both  actually  and  proportionally  with 
the  size  of  body,  and  their  feet  are  in  an  equally  marked  manner 
longer,  namely,  in  proportion,  on  an  average  by  29  of  an  inch.  I 
should  here  state  that  in  Table  I.  there  are  a  few  partial  exceptions 
'  to  the  beak  being  proportionally  shorter  than  in  the  rock-pigeon : 


214  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

thus  the  beak  of  the  English  frill-back  is  just  perceptibly  longer, 
and  that  of  the  Bussorah  carrier  of  the  same  length  or  slightly  longer, 
than  in  the  rock -pigeon.  The  beaks  of  spots,  swallows,  and  laugh- 
ers are  only  a  very  little  shorter,  or  of  the  same  proportional  length, 
but  slenderer.  Nevertheless,  these  two  tables,  taken  conjointly,  in- 
dicate pretty  plainly  some  kind  of  correlation  between  the  length 
of  the  beak  and  -the  size  of  the  feet.  Breeders  of  cattle  and  horses 
believe  that  there  is  an  analogous  connection  between  the  length  of 
the  limbs  and  head ;  they  assert  that  a  race-horse  with  the  head  of 
a  dray-horse,  or  a  greyhound  with  the  head  of  a  bulldog,  would  be 
a  monstrous  production.  As  fancy  pigeons  are  generally  kept  in 
small  aviaries,  and  are  abundantly  supplied  with  food,  they  must 
walk  about  much  less  than  the  wild  rock-pigeon  ;  and  it  may  be  ad- 
mitted as  highly  probable  that  the  reduction  in  the  size  of  the  feet 
in  the  twenty-two  birds  in  the  first  table  has  been  caused  by  disuse,38 
and  that  this  reduction  has  acted  by  correlation  on  the  beaks  of  the 
great  majority  of  the  birds  in  Table  I.  When,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  beak  has  been  much  elongated,  by  the  continued  selection  of 
successive  slight  increments  of  length,  the  feet  by  correlation  have 
likewise  become  much  elongated  in  comparison  with  those  of  the 
wild  rock-pigeon,  notwithstanding  their  lessened  use. 

As  I  had  taken  measures  from  the  end  of  the  middle  <toe  to  the 
heel  of  the  tarsus  in  the  rock-pigeon  and  in  the  above  thirty-six  birds, 
I  have  made  calculations  analogous  with  those  above  given,  and  the 
result  is  the  same, — namely,  that  in  the  .short-beaked  breeds,  with 
equally  few  exceptions  as  in  the  former  case,  the  middle  toe  con- 
jointly with  the  tarsus  has  decreased  in  length  ;  whereas  in  the  long- 
beaked  breeds  it  has  increased  in  length,  though  not  quite  so  uni- 
formly as  in  the  former  case,  for  the  leg  in  some  varieties  of  the  runt 
varies  much  in  length. 

As  fancy  pigeons  are  generally  confined  in  aviaries  of  moderate 
size,  and  as  even  when  not  confined  they  do  not  search  for  their  own 
food,  they  must  during  many  generations  have  used  their  wings  in- 
comparably less  than  the  wild  rock-pigeon.  Hence  it  seemed  to  me 
probable  that  all  the  parts  of  the  skeleton  subservient  to  flight 
would  be  found  to  be  reduced  in  size.  With  respect  to  the  sternum, 
I  have  carefully  measured  its  extreme  length  in  twelve  birds  of  dif- 
ferent breeds,  and  in  two  wild  rock-pigeons  from  the  Shetland  Is- 
lands. For  the  proportional  comparison  I  have  tried  with  all  twelve 
birds  three  standards  of  measurement,  namely  the  length  from  the 


38  In  an  analogous,  but  converse  man-  habits  than  other  allied  groups,  have 
ner,  certain  natural  groups  of  the  Colum-  larger  feet.  See  Prince  Bonaparte's  'Coup- 
bida?,  from  being  more  terrestrial  in  their        d'oeil  sur  l'Ordre  des  Pigeons.' 


Chap.  V. 


ON    THE   EFFECTS    OF   DISUSE. 


215 


base  of  the  beak  to  the  oil-gland,  to  the  end  of  the  tail,  and  from  the 
extreme  tip  to  tip  of  wings.  The  result  has  been  in  each  case  nearly 
the  same,  the  sternum  being  invariably  found  to  be  shorter  than  the 
wild  rock-pigeoni  I  will  give  only  a  single  table,  as  calculated  by 
the  standard  from  the  base  of  the  beak  to  the  oil-gland  ;  for  the  re- 
sult in  this  case  is  nearly  the  mean  between  the  result  obtained  by 
the  two  other  standards. 


Length  of  Sternum. 


•  Actual 
Name  of  Breed.          ;  Length. 

|  Indies. 

Too 
Short  by 

Name  of  Breed. 

Actual 
Length. 
Inches. 

Too 

Short  by 

Wild  Rock-pigeon  ..   |     255 
Pied  Scanderoon     ..        2  80 
Bagadotten  Carrier          2  "80 
Dragon      !    2 "45 

Short-faced  Tumbler    1    2  05 

0:60 
017 
0"4l 
0"35 
0-28 

German  Pouter 

English  Frill-back  . . 
Swallow      

2"35 
2"27 
236 
2"33 
2"40 
245 

0  34 
015 
0"54 
0"22 
043 
017 

This  table  shows  that  in  these  twelve  breeds  the  sternum  is  on  an 
average  one-third  of  an  inch  (exactly  '332)  shorter  than  in  the  rock- 
pigeon,  proportionally  with  the  size  of  their  bodies ;  so  that  the 
sternum  has  been  reduced  by  between  one-seventh  and  one-eighth 
of  its  entire  length  ;  and  this  is  a  considerable  reduction. 

I  have  also  measured  in  twenty-one  birds,  including  the-  above 
dozen,  the  prominence  of  the  crest  of  the  sternum  relatively  to  its 
length,  independently  of  the  size  of  the  body.  In  two  of  the 
twenty-one  birds  the  crest  was  prominent  in  the  same  relative  de- 
gree as  in  the  rock  pigeon  ;  in  seven  it  was  more  prominent ;  but  in 
five  out  of  these  seven,  namely,  in  a  fantail,  two  scanderoons,  and  two 
English  carriers,  this  greater  prominence  may  to  a  certain  extent  be 
explained,  as  a  prominent  breast  is  admired  and  selected  by  fanciers  ; 
in  the  remaining  twelve  birds  the  prominence  was  less.  Hence  it 
follows  that  the  crest  exhibits  a  slight,  though  uncertain,  tendency 
to  become  reduced  in  prominence  in  a  greater  degree  than  does  the 
length  of  the  sternum  relatively  to  the  size  of  body  in  comparison 
with  the  rock-pigeon. 

I  have  measured  the  length  of  the  scapula  in  nine  different  large 
and  small-sized  breeds,  and  in  all  the  scapula  is  proportionally 
shorter  (taking  the  same  standard  as  before)  than  in  the  wild  rock- 
pigeon.  The  reduction  in  length  on  an  average  is  very  nearly  one- 
fifth  of  an  inch,  or  about  one-ninth  of  the  length  of  the  scapula  in 
the  rock-pigeon. 

The  arms  of  the  furcula  in  all  the  specimens  which  I  compared, 
diverged  less,  proportionally  with  the  size  of  body,  than  in  the 


216  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  v. 

rock-pigeon ;  and  the  whole  furcula  was  proportionally  shorter. 
Thus  in  a  runt,  which  measured  from  tip  to  tip  of  wings  38+  inches, 
the  furcula  was  only  a  very  little  longer  (with  the  arms  hardly  more 
divergent)  than  in  a  rock-pigeon  which  measured  from  tip  to  tip  26+ 
inches.  In  a  barb,  which  in  all  its  measurements  was  a  little  larger 
than  the  same  rock-pigeon,  the  furcula  was  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
shorter.  In  a  pouter,  the  furcula  had  not  been  lengthened  propor- 
tionally Avith  the  increased  length  of  the  body.  In  a  short-faced 
tumbler,  which  measured  from  tip  to  tip  of  wings  24  inches,  there- 
fore only  2+  inches  less  than  the  rock-pigeon,  the  furcula  was  barely 
two  thirds  of  the  length  of  that  of  the  rock-pigeon. 

We  thus  clearly  see  "that  the  sternum,  scapulae,  and 
furcula  are  all  reduced  in  proportional  length ;  but  when 
we  turn  to  the  wings  we  find  what  at  first  appears  a 
wholly  different  and  unexpected  result.  I  may  here  re- 
mark that  I  have  not  picked  out  specimens,  but  have 
used  every  measurement  made  by  me.  Taking  the  length 
from  the  base  of  beak  to  the  end  of  the  tail  as  the 
standard  of  comparison,  I  find  that,  out  of  thirty-five 
birds  of  various  breeds,  twenty-five  have  wings  of 
greater,  and  ten  have  them  of  less  proportional  length, 
than  in  the  rock-pigeon.  But  from  the  frequently  corre- 
lated length  of  the  tail  and  wing-feathers,  it  is  better  to 
take  as  the  standard  of  comparison  the  length  from  the 
base  of  the  beak  to  the  oil-gland ;  and  by  this  standard, 
out  of  twenty-six  of  the  same  birds  which  had  been  thus 
measured,  twenty-one  had  wings  too  long,  and  only  five 
had  them  too  short.  In  the  twenty -one  birds  the  wings  ex- 
ceeded in  length  those  of  the  rock-pigeon,  on  an  average, 
by  l£  inch  ;  whilst  in  the  five  birds  they  were  less  in 
length  by  only  *8  of  an  inch.  As  I  was  much  surprised 
that  the  wings  of  closely  confined  birds  should  thus  so 
frequently  have  been  increased  in  length,  it  occurred  to 
me  that  it  might  be  solely  due  to  the  greater  length  of 
the  wing-feathers ;  for  this  certainly  is  the  case  with  the 
jacobin,  which  has  wings  of  unusual  length.  As  in  al- 
most every  case  I  had  measured  the  folded  wings,  I  sub- 
tracted the  length  of  this  terminal  part  from  that  of  the 


Chap.  V.  ON    THE    EFFECTS    OF    DISUSE.  217 

expanded  wings,  and  thus  I  obtained,  with  a  moderate 
degree  of  accuracy,  the  length  of  the  wings  from  the 
ends  of  the  two  radii,  answering  from  wrist  to  wrist  in 
our  arms.  The  wings,  thus  measured  in  the  same  twenty- 
live  birds,  now  gave  a  widely  different  result;  for  they 
were  proportionally  with  those  of  the  rock-pigeon  too 
short  in  seventeen  birds,  and  in  only  eight  too  long.  Of 
these  eight  birds,  five  were  long-beaked,39  and  this  fact 
perhaps  indicates  that  there  is  some  correlation  between 
the  length  of  the  beak  and  the  length  of  the  bones  of  the 
wings,  in  the  same  manner  as  with  the  feet  and  tarsi. 
The  shortening  of  the  humerus  and  radius  in  the  seven- 
teen birds  may  probably  be  attributed  to  disuse,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  scapulas  and  furcula  to  which  the  wing-bones 
are  attached  ; — the  lengthening  of  the  wing-feathers,  and 
consequently  the  expansion  of  the  wings  from  tip  to 
tip,  being,  on  the  other  hand,  as  completely  independent 
of  use  and  disuse  as  is  the  growth  of  the  hair  or  wool  on 
our  long-haired  dogs  or  long-woolled  sheep. 

To  sum  up:  we  may  confidently  admit  that  the  length 
of  the  sternum,  and  frequently  the  prominence  of  its 
crest,  the  length  of  the  scapulae  and  furcula,  have  all  been 
reduced  in  size  in  comparison  with  the  same  parts  in  the 
rock-pigeon.  And  I  presume  that  this  may  be  safely  at- 
tributed to  disuse  or  lessened  exercise.  The  wings,  as 
measured  from  the  ends  of  the  radii,  have  likewise  been 
generally  reduced  in  length  ;  but,  owing  to  the  increased 
growth  of  the  wing-feathers,  the  wings,  from  tip  to 
tip,  are  commonly  longer  than  in  the  rock-pigeon.  The 
feet,  as  well  as  the  tarsi  conjointly  with  the  middle  toe, 
have  likewise  in  most  cases  become  reduced ;  and  this  it 
is  probable  has  been  caused  by  their  lessened  use  ;  but 

89  It  perhaps  deserves  no'.ic;  fhat  be-  beaked    carriers.      It  would,  therefore, 

sides  these  five  birds  two  of  the  eight  appear  as    if,  during   the   reduction  of 

were  barbs,  which,    as  I   hare    shown,  their  beaks,  their  wings  had  retained  a 

must  be  classed  in  the  sime  group  with  little  of  that  excess  of  length  which  is 

the    long-beaked    carriers    and    runts.  characteristic  of  their  nearest  relations 

Barbs   may  properly   be  called    short-  and  progenitors. 

10 


218  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  V. 

the  existence  of  some  sort  of  correlation  between  the 
feet  and  beak  is  shown  more  plainly  than  the  effects  of 
disuse.  We  have  also  some  faint  indication  of  a  similar 
correlation  between  the  main  bones  of  the  wing  and  the 
beak. 

Summary  on   the  Points   of  Difference   between  the 
several  Domestic   Maces,    and   between   the   individual 
Birds. — The  beak,  together  with  the  bones  of  the  face, 
differ  remarkably  in  length,  breadth,  shape,  and  curva- 
ture.     The  skull   differs  in  shape,  and   greatly  in  the 
angle  formed  by  the  union  of  the  premaxillary,  nasal, 
and  maxillo-jugal  bones.      The  curvature  of  the  lower 
jaw  and  the  reflexion  of  its  upper  margin,  as  well  as  the 
gape  of  the  mouth,  differ  in  a  highly  remarkable  manner. 
The  tongue  varies  much  in  length,  both  independently 
and  in  correlation  with  the  length  of  the  beak.     The 
development  of  the  naked,  wattled  skin  over  the  nostrils 
and  round  the  eyes  varies  in  an  extreme  degree.     The 
eyelids  and  the  external  orifices  of  the  nostrils  vary  in 
length,  and  are  to  a  certain  extent  correlated  with  the 
degree  of  development  of  the  wattle.     The  size  and  form 
of  the  oesophagus  and  crop,  and  their  capacity  for  in- 
flation, differ  immensely.     The  length  of  the  neck  varies. 
With  the  varying  shape  of  the  body,  the  breadth  and 
number  of  the  ribs,  the  presence  of  processes,  the  number 
of  the  sacral  vertebras,  and  the  length  of  the  sternum, 
all  vary.  *  The  number  and  size  of  the  coccygeal  verte- 
bras vary,  apparently  in  correlation  with  the  increased 
size  of  the  tail.     The  size  and  shape  of  the  perforations 
in  the  sternum,  and  the  size  and  divergence  of  the  arms 
of  the  fui'cula,  differ.     The  oil-gland  varies  in  develop- 
ment, and  is  sometimes  quite  aborted.     The  direction 
and  length  of  certain  feathers  have  been  much  modified, 
as  in  the  hood  of  the  Jacobin  and  the  frill  of  the  Turbit. 
The  wing  and  tail  feathers  generally  vary  in  length  to- 
gether, but  sometimes  independently  of  each  other  and 
of  the  size  of  the  body.     The  number  and  position  of  the 


Cbap.  V.  SUMMARY    OF    DIFFERENCES.  219 

tail-feathers  vary  to  an  unparalleled  degree.  The  primary 
and  secondary  wing-feathers  occasionally  vary  in  nam* 
ber,  apparently  in  correlation  with  the  length  of  the 
wing.  The  length  of  the  leg  and  the  size  of  the  feet, 
and,  in  connection  with  the  latter,  the  number  of  the 
scutelloe,  all  vary.  A  web  of  skin  sometimes  connects 
the  bases  of  the  two  inner  toes,  and  almost  invariably  the 
two  outer  toes  when  the  feet  are  feathered. 

The  size  of  the  body  differs  greatly:  a  runt  has  been 
known  to  weigh  more  than  five  times  as  much  as  a  short- 
faced  tumbler.  The  eggs  differ  in  size  and  shape.  Ac- 
cording to  Parmentier,40  some  races  use  much  straw  in 
building  their  nests,  and  others  use  little  ;  but  I  cannot 
hear  of  any  recent  corroboration  of  this  statement.  The 
length  of  time  required  for  hatching  the  eggs  is  uniform 
in  all  the  breeds.  The  period  at  which  the  characteristic 
plumage  of  some  breeds  is  acquired,  and  at  which  cer- 
tain changes  of  colour  supervene,  differs.  The  degree 
to  which  the  young  birds  are  clothed  with  down  when 
first  hatched  is  different,  and  is  correlated  in  a  singular 
manner  with  the  future  colour  of  the  plumage.  The 
manner  of  flight,  and  certain  inherited  movements,  such 
as  clapping  the  wings,  tumbling  either  in  the  air  or  on 
the  ground,  and  the  manner  of  courting  the  female,  pre- 
sent the  most  singular  differences.  In  disposition  the 
several  races  differ.  Some  races  are  very  silent ;  others 
coo  in  a  highly  peculiar  manner. 

Although  many  different  races  have  kept  true  in  cha- 
racter during  several  centuries,  as  we  shall  hereafter 
more  fully  see,  yet  there  is  far  more  individual  variability 
in  the  truest  breeds  than  in  birds  in  a  state  of  nature. 
There  is  hardly  any  exception  to  the  rule  that  those  cha- 
racters vary  most  which  are  now  most  valued  and  at- 
tended to  by  fanciers,  and  which  consequently  are  now 
being  improved  by  continued  selection.      This  is  indi- 


**  Temminck,  '  Hist.  Nat.  G6n.  des  Pigeons  et  des  GallinacSs,'  torn,  i.,  1818,  p.  17a 


220 


DOMESTIC    PIGEONS. 


Chap.  V. 


rectly  admitted  by  fanciers  when  they  complain  that  it 
is  much  more  difficult  to  breed  high  fancy  pigeons  up  to 
the  proper  standard  of  excellence  than  the  so-called 
toy  pigeons,  which  differ  from  each  other  merely  in 
colour ;  for  particular  colours  when  once  acquired  are 
not  liable  to  continued  improvement  or  augmentation. 
Some  characters  become  attached,  from  quite  unknown 
causes,  more  strongly  to  the  male  than  to  the  female 
sex ;  so  that  we  have,  in  certain  races,  a  tendency  to- 
wards the  appearance  of  secondary  sexual  characters." 
of  which  the  aboriginal  rock-pigeon  displays  not  a  trace. 


*'  This  term  was  used  by  John  Hunter 
for  such  differences  in  structure  between 
the  males  and  females,  as  are  not  di- 


rectly connected  with  the  act  of  repro- 
duction, as  the  tail  of  the  peacock,  the 
horns  of  deer,  &c 


Cmr.  VI.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  221 


CHAPTER     VI. 

PIGEONS— continued. 

ON  THE  ABORIGINAL  PARENT-STOCK  OF  THE  SEVERAL  DOMESTIC 
RACES  —  HABITS  OP  LIFE  —  WILD  RACES  OF  THE  ROCK-PIGEON 
—  DOVECOT-PIGEONS  —  PROOFS  OF  THE  DESCENT  OF  THE  SEV- 
ERAL RACES  FROM  COLUMBA  LIVIA  —  FERTILITY  OF  THE 
RACES  WHEN  CROSSED  —  REVERSION  TO  THE  PLUMAGE  OF  THE 
WILD  ROCK-PIGEON  —  CIRCUMSTANCES  FAVOURABLE  TO  THE 
FORMATION  OF  THE  RACES  —  ANTIQUITY  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE 
PRINCIPAL  RACES  —  MANNER  OF  THEIR  FORMATION  —  SELEC- 
TION—  UNCONSCIOUS  SELECTION  —  CARE  TAKEN  BY  FANCIERS 
IN  SELECTING  THEIR  BIRDS  —  SLIGHTLY  DIFFERENT  STRAINS 
GRADUALLY  CHANGE  INTO  WELL-MARKED  BREEDS  —  EXTINCTION 
OF  INTERMEDIATE  FORMS  —  CERTAIN  BREEDS  REMAIN  PERMA- 
NENT, WHILST  OTHERS   CHANGE — SUMMARY." 

The  differences  described  in  the  last  chapter  between 
the  eleven  chief  domestic  races  and  between  individual 
birds  of  the  same  raee,  would  be  of  little  significance, 
if  they  had  not  all  descended  from  a  single  wild  stock. 
The  question  of  their  origin  is  therefore  of  fundamental 
importance,  and  must  be  discussed-at  considerable  length. 
No  one  will  think  this  superfluous  who  considers  the 
great  amount  of  difference  between  the  races,  who  knows 
how  ancient  many  of  them  are,  and  how  truly  they 
breed  at  the  present  day.  Fanciers  almost  unanimously 
believe  that  the  different  races  are  descended  from  sev- 
eral wild  stocks,  whereas  most  naturalists  believe  that 
all  are  descended  from  the  Cohtmba  livia  or  rock  pigeon. 
Temminck '  has   well   observed,  and    Mr.   Gould   has 


1  Temminck,  'Hist.  Nat.  Gen.  des  Pigeons,'  &c,  torn.  i.  p.  191. 


222  DOMESTIC    PIGEON'S.  Chap.  VI. 

made  the  same  remark  to  me,  that  the  aboriginal  parent 
must  have  been  a  species  which  roosted  and  built  its  nest 
on  rocks;  and  I  may  add  that  it  must  have  been  a  social 
bird.  For  all  the  domestic  races  are  highly  social,  and 
none  are  known  to  build  or  habitually  to  roost  on  trees. 
The  awkward  manner  in  which  some  pigeons,  kept  by 
me  in  a  summer-house  near  an  old  walnut  tree,  occasion- 
ally alighted  on  the  barer  branches,  was  evident.2  Nev- 
ertheless, Mr.  R.  Scot  Skirving  informs  me  that  he  often 
saw  crowds  of  pigeons  in  Upper  Egypt  settling  on  the 
low  trees,  but  not  on  the  palms,  in  preference  to  the  mud 
hovels  of  the  natives.  In  India  Mr.  Blyth3  has  been 
assured  that  the  wild  G.  livia,  var.  intermedia,  some- 
times roosts  in  trees.  I  may  here  give  a  curious  instance 
of  compulsion  leading  to  changed  habits:  the  banks  of 
the  Nile  above  lat.  28°  30'  are  perpendicular  for  a  long 
distance,  so  that  when  the  river  is  full  the  pigeons  cannot 
alight  on  the  shore  to  drink,  and  Mr.  Skirving  repeat- 
edly saw  whole  flocks  settle  on  the  water,  and  drink 
whilst  they  floated  down  the  stream.  These  flocks  seen 
from  a  distance  resembled  flocks  of  gulls  on  the  surface 
of  the  sea. 

If  any  domestic  race  had  descended  from  a  species 
which  was  not  social,  or  which  built  its  nest  or  roosted  in 
trees,4  the  sharp  eyes  of  fanciers  would  assuredly  have  de- 
tected some  vestige  of  so  different  an  aboriginal  habit. 
For  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  aboriginal  habits  are 
Ions:  retained  under  domestication.     Thus  with  the  com- 


5  I  have  heard  through  Sir  C.  Lyell  *  In  works  written  on  the  pigeon  by 
from  Miss  Buckley,  that  some  half-bred  fanciers  I  have  sometimes  observed  the 
carriers  kept  during  many  years  near  mistaken  belief  expressed  that  the  spe- 
London  regularly  settled  by  day  on  some  cies  which  naturalists  call  ground  pi- 
adjoining  trees,  and,  after  being  dis-  geons  (in  contradistinction  to  arboreal 
turbed  in  their  loft  by  their  young  being  pigeons)  do  not  perch  and  build  on 
taken,  roosted  on  them  at  night.  trees.     In   these  same  works  wild   spe- 

3  '  AnnaU  and   Mag.    of  Nat.    Hist.,'  cies  resembling  the  chief  domestic  races 

2nd  ser.,  vol.  xx.,  1857,  p.  509;  and  in  a  are  often  said  to  exist  in  various  parts 

late  volume  of  the  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  of  the  world,  but  such  species  are  quite 

Society.  unknown  to  naturalists. 


Chap.  VI.  THEIR    PAKEXTAGE.  223 

mon  ass  we  see  signs  of  its  original  desert  life  in  its 
strong  dislike  to  cross  the  smallest  stream  of  water,  and 
in  its  pleasure  in  rolling  in  the  dust.  The  same  strong 
dislike  to  cross  a  stream  is  common  to  the  camel,  which 
has  been  domesticated  from  a  very  ancient  period. 
Young  pigs,  though  so  tame,  sometimes  squat  when 
frightened,  and  thus  try  to  conceal  themselves  even  on  an 
open  and  bare  place.  Young  turkeys,  and  occasionally 
even  young  fowls,  when  the  hen  gives  the  danger-cry,  run 
away  and  try  to  hide  themselves,  like  young  partridges 
or  pheasants,  in  order  that  their  mother  may  take  flight, 
of  which  she  has  lost  the  power.  The  musk-duck  (Den- 
drocygna  viduata)  in  its  native  country  often  perches  and 
roosts  on  trees,5  and  our  domesticated  musk-ducks,  though 
such  sluggish  birds,  "  are  fond  of  perching  on  the  tops  of 
barns,  walls,  &c,  and,  if  allowed  to  spend  the  night  in 
the  hen-house,  the  female  will  generally  go  to  roost  by 
the  side  of  the  hens,  but  the  drake  is  too  heavy  to  mount 
thither  with  ease."8  We  know  that  the  dog,  however 
well  and  regularly  fed,  often  buries,  like  the  fox,  any  su- 
perflous  food ;  and  we  see  him  turning  round  and  round 
on  a  carpet,  as  if  to  trample  down  grass  to  form  a  bed ; 
we  see  him  on  bare  pavements  scratching  backwards  as 
if  to  throw  earth  over  his  excrement,  although,  as  I  be- 
lieve, this  is  never  effected  even  where  there  is  earth.  In 
the  delight  with  which  lambs  and  kids  crowd  together 
and  frisk  on  the  smallest  hillock,  we  see  a  vestige  of  their 
former  alpine  habits. 

We  have  therefore  good  reason  to  believe  that  all  the 
domestic  races  of  the  pigeon  are  descended  either  from 
some  one  or  from  several  species  which  both  roosted  and 
built  their  nests  on  rocks,  and  were  social  in  disposition. 
As  only  five  or  six  wild  species  with  these  habits  and 
making  an)r  near  approach  in  structure  to  the  domes- 


8  Sir  R.  Schomburgk,  in  '  Journal  R.  •  Rev.  E.  9.  Dixon,  '  Ornamental  Poul- 

Geograph.  Soc.,'  vol.  xiii.   1344,  p.  82.  try,'  ISIS,  pp.  63,  66. 


224  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

ticatecT   pigeon   are   known  to  exist,  I  will   enumerate 
them. 

Firstly,  the  Columba  leuconota  resembles  certain  domestic  varie- 
ties in  its  plumage,  with  the  one  marked  and  never-failing  difference 
of  a  white  band  which  crosses  the  tail  at  some  distance  from  the  ex- 
tremity. This  species,  moreover,  inhabits  the  Himalaya,  close  to 
the  limit  of  perpetual  snow ;  and  therefore,  as  Mr.  Blyth  has  re- 
marked, is  not  likely  to  have  been  the  parent  of  our  domestic  breeds, 
which  thrive  in  the  hottest  countries.  Secondly,  the  0.  rupestrit, 
of  Central  Asia,  which  is  intermediate 7  between  the  C.  leuconota  and 
livia  ;  but  has  nearly  the  same  coloured  tail  with  the  former  species. 
Thirdly,  the  Columba  littoralis  builds  and  roosts,  according  to  Tem- 
minck,  on  rocks  in  the  Malayan  archipelago  ;  it  is  white,  excepting 
parts  of  the  wing  and  the  tip  of  the  tail,  which  are  black  ;  its  legs 
are  livid-coloured,  and  this  is  a  character  not  observed  in  any  adult 
domestic  pigeon  ;  but  I  need  not  have  mentioned  this  species  or  the 
closely-allied  C.  lucluosa,  as  they  in  fact  belong  to  the  genus  Carpo- 
phaga.  Fourthly,  Columba  Guinea,  which  ranges  from  Guinea  *  to 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  roosts  either  on  trees  or  rocks,  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  country.  This  species  belongs  to  the  genus 
Strictcenas  of  Reichenbach,  but  is  closely  allied  to  true  Columba  ;  it 
is  to  some  extent  coloured  like  certain  domestic  races,  and  has  been 
said  to  be  domesticated  in  Abyssinia ;  but  Mr.  Mansfield  Parkyns, 
who  collected  the  birds  of  that  country  and  knows  the  species,  informs 
me  that  this  is  a  mistake.  Moreover  the  C.  Guinea  is  characterized 
by  the  feathers  of  the  neck  having  peculiar  notched  tips, — a  charac- 
ter not  observed  in  any  domestic  race.  Fifthly,  the  Columba  oznas 
of  Europe,  which  roosts  on  trees,  and  builds  its  nest  in  holes,  either 
in  trees  or  the  ground  ;  this  species,  as  far  as  external  characters  go, 
might  be  the  parent  of  several  domestic  races  ;  but,  though  it  crosses 
readily  with  the  true  rock-pigeon,  the  offspring,  as  we  shall  pre- 
sently see,  are  sterile  hybrids,  and  of  such  sterility  there  is  not  a 
trace  when  the  domestic  races  are  intercrossed.  It  should  also  be 
observed  that  if  we  were  to  admit,  against  all  probability,  that  any 
of  the  foregoing  five  or  six  species  were  the  parents  of  some  of  our 
domestic  pigeons,  not  the  least  light  would  be  thrown  on  the  chief 
differences  between  the  eleven  most  strongly-marked  races. 

We  now  come  to  the  best  known  rock-pigeon,  the  Columba  litia,, 


7  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc,  1859,  p.  400.  confounded   together  under  this    name. 

•  Temminck,   '  Hist.    Nat.    Gen.    des  The  C.  leucocephal  of  the  West  Indies 
Pigeons,'  torn.  i. ;   also  'Les   Pigeons,'  is  stated  by  Temminck  to  be  a  rock- 
par  Mad.  Knip  and  Temminck.     Bona-  pigeon  ;  but  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Gosse 
parte  however,  in  his  '  Coup-d'oeil,'  be-  that  this  is  an  error, 
lieves  that  two  closely  allied  species  are 


Chap.  VI.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  225 

which  is  often  designated  in  Europe  pre-eminently  as  the  Rock-pi- 
geon, and  which  naturalists  believe  to  be  the  parent  of  all  the  do- 
mesticated breeds.  This  bird  agrees  in  every  essential  character 
with  the  breeds  which  have  been  only  slightly  modified.  It  differs 
from  all  other  species  in  being  of  a  slaty-blue  colour,  with  two  black 
bars  on  the  wings,  and  with  the  croup  (or  loins)  white.  Occasion- 
ally birds  are  seen  in  Faroe  and  the  Hebrides  with  the  black  bars 
replaced  by  two  or  three  black  spots ;  this  form  has  been  named  by 
Brehm 9  C.  amalice,  but  this  species  has  not  been  admitted  as  distinct 
by  other  ornithologists.  Graba  10  even  found  a  difference  between 
the  wing-bars  of  the  same  bird  in  Faroe.  Another  and  rather  more 
distinct  form  is  either  truly  wild  or  has  become  feral  on  the  cliffs 
of  England,  and  was  doubtfully  named  by  Mr.  Blyth  "  as  G.  affinis, 
but  is  now  no  longer  considered  by  him  as  a  distinct  species.  C.  af- 
finis is  rather  smaller  than  the  rock-pigeon  of  the  Scottish  islands, 
and  has  a  very  different  appearance  owing  to  the  wing-coverts  being 
chequered  with  black,  with  similar  marks  often  extending  over  the 
back.  The  chequering  consists  of  a  large  black  spot  on  the  two 
sides,  but  chiefly  on  the  outer  side,  of  each  feather.  The  wing- bars 
in  the  true  rock-pigeon  and  in  the  chequered  variety  are,  in  fact,  due 
to  similar  though  larger  spots  symmetrically  crossing  the  secondary 
wing-feather  and  the  larger  coverts.  Hence  the  chequering  arises 
merely  from  an  extension  of  these  marks  to  other  parts  of  the 
plumage.  Chequered  birds  are  not  confined  to  the  coasts  of  Eng- 
land ;  for  they  were  found  by  Graba  at  Faroe  ;  and  W.  Thompson  w 
says  that  at  Islay  fully  half  the  wild  rock -pigeons  were  chequered. 
Colonel  King,  of  Hythe,  stocked  his  dovecot  with  young  wild 
birds  which  he  himself  procured  from  nests  at  the  Orkney  Islands  ; 
and  several  specimens,  kindly  sent  to  me  by  him,  were  all  plainly 
chequered.  As  we  thus  see  that  chequered  birds  occur  mingled  with 
the  true  rock-pigeon  at  three  distinct  sites,  namely,  Faroe,  the  Ork- 
ney Islands,  and  Islay,  no  importance  can  be  attached  to  this  natu- 
ral variation  in  the  plumage. 

Prince  C.  L.  Bonaparte,13  a  great  divider  of  species,  enumerates, 
with  a  mark  of  interrogation,  as  distinct  from  C.  lima,  the  C.  turri- 
cola  of  Italy,  the  C.  rirpestris  of  Daouria,  and  the  C.  Schimperi  of 
Abyssinia ;  but  these  birds  differ  from  C.  livia  in  characters  of  the 


*  '  Handbuch   der    Naturgesch.  Vogel  ing. 

Deutschlands.'  •«  ■  Natural  History  of  Ireland,'  Birds, 

10  '  Tagebuch  Reise  nach  Faro,'  1830,  vol.  ii.  (1850),  p.  11.    For  Graba,  see  pra- 

»•  62.  vious  reference. 

"'Annals   and    Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,'  >3  '  Coup-d'oeil     surl'Ordre     des    Pi- 

vol.   xix.,   181",  p.  102.     This  excellent  gcons,'  Cowptes  Reudus,  1854-55. 
paper  on  pigeons  is  well  worth  consult- 


226  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  Ml. 

most  trifling  value.  In  the  British  Museum  there  is  a  chequered 
pigeon,  probably  the  G.  ScMmperi  of  Bonaparte,  from  Abyssinia. 
To  these  may  be  added  th,e  C.  gymriocyclus  of  G.  R.  Gray  from  W. 
Africa,  which  is  slightly  more  distinct,  and  has  rather  more  naked 
skin  round  the  eyes  than  the  rock  pigeon ;  but  from  information 
given  me  by  Dr.  Daniell,  it  is  doubtful  whether  this  is  a  wild 
bird,  for  dovecot  pigeons  (which  I  have  examined)  are  kept  on  the 
coast  of  Guinea. 

The  wild  rock-pigeon  of  India  (G.  intermedia  of  Strickland)  has 
been  more  generally  accepted  as  a  distinct  species.  It  chiefly  dif- 
fers in  the  croup  being  blue  instead  of  snow-white ;  but  as  Mr. 
Blyth  informs  me,  the  tint  varies,  being  sometimes  albescent.  When 
this  form  is  domesticated  chequered  birds  appear,  just  as  occurs  in 
Europe  with  the  truly  wild  G  livia.  Moreover  wre  shall  immediate- 
ly have  proof  that  the  blue  and  white  croup  is  a  highly  variable 
character ;  and  Bechstein "  asserts  that  with  dovecot-pigeons  in 
Germany  this  is  the  most  variable  of  all  the  characters  of  the  plu- 
mage. Hence  it  may  be  concluded  that  G.  intermedia  cannot  be 
ranked  as  specifically  distinct  from  G.  livia. 

In  Madeira  there  is  a  rock-pigeon  which  a  few  ornithologists 
have  suspected  to  be  distinct  from  G.  livia.  I  have  examined  numer- 
ous specimens  collected  by  Mr.  E.  V.  Harcourt  and  Mr.  Mason. 
They  are  rather  smaller  than  the  rock-pigeon  from  the  Shetland 
Islands,  and  their  beaks  are  plainly  thinner ;  but  the  thickness  of 
the  beak  varied  in  the  several  specimens.  In  plumage  there  is 
remarkable  diversity  ;  some  specimens  are  identical  in  every  feather 
(I  speak  after  actual  comparison)  with  the  rock-pigeon  of  the  Shet- 
land Islands  ;  others  are  chequered,  like  G.  affinis  from  the  cliffs  of 
England,  but  generally  to  a  greater  degree,  being  almost  black  over 
the  whole  back  ;  others  are  identical  with  the  so-called  G  intermedia 
of  India  in  the  degree  of  blueness  of  the  croup  ;  whilst  others  have 
this  part  very  pale  or  very  dark  blue,  and  are  likewise  chequered. 
So  much  variability  raises  a  strong  suspicion  that  these  birds  are 
domestic  pigeons  which  have  become  feral. 

From  these  facts  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  G  lima,  affinis,  in- 
termedia, and  the  forms  marked  with  an  interrogation  by  Bonaparte, 
ought  all  to  be  included  under  a  single  species.  But  it  is  quite  im- 
material whether  or  not  they  are  thus  ranked,  and  whether  some 
one  of  these  forms  or  all  are  the  progenitors  of  the  various  domestic 
kinds,  as  far  as  any  light  is  thus  thrown  on  the  differences  between 
the  more  strongly-marked  races.      That  common  dovecot-pi  geona, 


i«  '  Naturgeach.  Deutsclilands,'  Band  iv.,  1795,  8. 14. 


Chap.  vi.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  227 

which  are  kept  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  arc  descended  from 
one  or  from  several  of  the  above-mentioned  wild  varieties  of  C.  livia, 
no  one  who  compares  them  will  doubt.  But  before  making  a  few 
remarks  on  dovecot-pigeons,  it  should  be  stated  that  the  wild  rock- 
pigeon  has  been  found  easy  to  tame  in  several  countries.  We  have 
seen  that  Colonel  King  at  Hythe  stocked  his  dovecot  more  than 
twenty  years  ago  with  young  wild  birds  taken  at  the  Orkney  Is- 
lands, and  since  this  time  they  have  greatly  multiplied.  The  accu- 
rate Macgillivray  15  asserts  that  he  completely  tamed  a  wild  rock- 
pigeon  in  the  Hebrides  ;  and  several  accounts  are  on  record  of  these 
pigeons  having  bred  in  dovecots  in  the  Shetland  Islands.  In  India, 
as  Captain  Hut  ton  informs  me,  the  wild  rock-pigeon  is  easily  tamed, 
and  breeds  readily  with  the  domestic  kind  ;  and  Mr.  Blyth  I0  asserts 
that  wild  birds  come  frequently  to  the  dovecots  and  mingle  freely 
with  their  inhabitants.  In  the  ancient  '  Ayeen  Akbery'  it  is  writ- 
ten that,  if  a  few  wild  pigeons  be  taken,  "  they  are  speedily  joined 
by  a  thousand  others  of  their  kind." 

Dovecot-pigeons  are  those  which  are  kept  in  dovecots  in  a  semi- 
domesticated  state ;  for  no  special  care  is  taken  of  them,  and  they 
procure  their  own  food,  except  during  the  severest  weather.  In 
England,  and,  judging  from  MM.  Boitard  and  Corbie's  work,  in 
France,  the  common  dovecot-pigeon  exactly  resembles  the  chequered 
variety  of  C.  litia;  but  I  have  seen  dovecots  brought  from  York- 
shire, without  any  trace  of  chequering,  like  the  wild  rock-pigeon  of 
the  Shetland  Islands.  The  chequered  dovecots  from  the  Orkney 
Islands,  after  having  been  domesticated  by  Colonel  King  for  more 
I  han  twenty  years,  differed  slightly  from  each  other  in  the  darkness 
i  f  their  plumage,  and  in  the  thickness  of  their  beaks  ;  the  thinnest 
beak  being  rather  thicker  than  the  thickest  one  in  the  Madeira 
birds.  In  Germany,  according  to  Bechstein,  the  common  dovecot- 
pigeon  is  not  chequered.  In  India  they  often  become  chequered, 
and  sometimes  pied  with  white ;  the  croup  also,  as  I  am  informed 
by  Mr.  Blyth,  "becomes  nearly  white.  I  have  received  from  Sir  J. 
Brooke  some  dovecot-pigeons,  which  originally  came  from  the  S. 
Natunas  Islands  in  the  Malay  archipelago,  and  which  had  been 


16 '  History'of  British  Birds,'  vol.  i.  pp.  wild  rock-pigeon  came  and  settled  in  Ms 

275-2S4.     Mr.  Andrew  Duncan  tamed  a  dovecot  in  Balta  Sound  in  the  Shetland 

rock-pigeon  in  the  Shetland  Islands.   Mr.  Islands,  and  bred  with  his   pigeons  ;  he 

James  Barclay,  and  Mr.  Smith  of  Uyea  has  also  given  me  other  instances  of  the 

Sound,  both  say  that  the  wild  rock-pi  wild    rock-pigeon    having    been    taken 

geon  can  be  easily  tamed  ;  and  the  for-  young  and  breeding  in  captivity, 

mer  gentleman  asserts   that  the    tame  16  'Annals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.  History,* 

birds  breed  four  times  a  year.    Dr.  Law-  vol.  xix.,  1&17,  p.  103,  and  vol.  for  1S3T, 

rence  Edmondstone  informs  me  that  a  p.  512. 


228  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

crossed  with  the  Singapore  dovecots  ;  they  were  small,  and  the  dark- 
est variety  was  extremely  like  the  dark  chequered  variety  with  a 
bine  croup  from  Madeira ;  but  the  beak  was  not  so  thin,  though 
decidedly  thinner  than  in  the  rock-pigeon  from  the  Shetland  Islands. 
A  dovecot-pigeon  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  Swinhoe  from  Foochow,  in 
China,  was  likewise  rather  small,  but  differed  in  no  other  respect. 
I  have  also  received,  through  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Daniell,  four  liv- 
ing dovecot-pigeons  from  Sierra  Leone  ; 17  these  were  fully  as  large 
as  the  Shetland  rock-pigeon,  with  even  bulkier  bodies.  In  plumage 
some  of  them  were  identical  with  the  Shetland  rock-pigeon,  but 
with  the  metallic  tints  apparently  rather  more  brilliant ;  others  had 
a  blue  croup  and  resembled  the  chequered  variety  of  C.  intermedia 
of  India ;  and  some  were  so  much  chequered  as  to  be  nearly  black. 
In  these  four  birds  the  beak  differed  slightly  in  length,  but  in  all  it 
was  decidedly  shorter,  more  massive,  and  stronger  than  in  the  wild 
rock-pigeon  from  the  Shetland  Islands,  or  in  the  English  dovecot. 
When  the  beaks  of  these  African  pigeons  were  compared  with  the 
thinnest  beaks  of  the  wild  Madeira  specimens,  the  contrast  was 
great ;  the  former  being  fully  one-third  thicker  in  a  vertical  direc- 
tion than  the  latter  ;  so  that  any  one  at  first  would  have  felt  inclined 
to  rank  these  birds  as  specifically  distinct ;  yet  so  perfectly  gradua- 
ted a  series  could  be  formed  between  the  above-mentioned  varieties, 
that  it  was  obviously  impossible  to  separate  them. 

To  sum  up:  the  wild  Columba  livia,  including  under 
this  name  C.  affinis,  intermedia,  and  the  other  still  more 
closely-affined  geographical  races,  has  a  vast  range  from 
the  southern  coast  of  Norway  and  the  Faroe  Islands  to 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  to  Madeira  and  the  Ca- 
nary Islands,  to  Abyssinia,  India,  and  Japan.  It  varies 
greatly  in  plumage,  being  in  many  places  chequered  with 
black,  and  having  either  a  white  or  blue  croup  or  loins ; 
it  varies  also  slightly  in  the  size  of  the  beak  and  body. 
Dovecot-pigeons,  which  no  one  disputes  are  descended 
from  one  or  more  of  the  above  wild  forms,  present  a  sim- 
ilar but  greater  range  of  variation  in  plumage,  in  the  size 
of  body,  and  in  the  length  and  thickness  of  the  beak. 


W  Domestic  pigeons  of  the  common  edinl"46-,  they  are  said,  in  accordance 

kind  are  mentioned  as  being  pretty  nu-  with  the  name  which  they  bear,  to  have 

merous  in  John   Barbut's  '  Description  been  imported, 
of  the  Coast  of  Guinea,'  (p.  215),  publish- 


Chap.  VI.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  229 

There  seems  to  be  some  relation  between  the  cronp  being 
blue  or  white,  and  the  temperature  of  the  country  inhab- 
ited by  both  wild  and  dovecot-pigeons;  for  nearly  all  the 
dovecot-pigeons  in  the  northern  parts  of  Europe  have  a 
white  croup,  like  that  of  the  wild  European  rock-pigeon  ; 
and  nearly  all  the  dovecot-pigeons  of  India  have  a  blue 
croup  like  that  of  the  wild  C.  intermedia  of  India.  As 
in  various  countries  the  wild  rock-pigeon  has  been  found 
easy  to  tame,  it  seems  extremely  probable  that  the  dove- 
cot-pigeons throughout  the  world  are  the  descendants  of 
at  least  two  and  perhaps  more  wild  stocks,  but  these,  as 
we  have  just  seen,  cannot  be  ranked  as  specifically  distinct. 
With  respect  to  the  variation  of  C.  livia,  we  may 
without  fear  of  contradiction  go  one  step  further.  Those 
pigeon-fanciers  who  believe  that  all  the  chief  races,  such 
as  Carriers,  Pouters,  Fantails,  &c,  are  descended  from 
distinct  aboriginal  stocks,  yet  admit  that  the  so-called 
toy-pigeons,  which  differ  from  the  rock-pigeon  in  little 
except  in  colour,  are  descended  from  this  bird.  By  toy- 
pigeons  are  meant  such  birds  as  Spots,  Nans,  Helmets, 
Swallows,  Priests,  Monks,  Porcelains,  Swabians,  Arch- 
angels, Breasts,  Shields,  and  others  in  Europe,  and  many 
others  in  India.  It  would  indeed  be  as  puerile  to  sup- 
pose that  all  these  birds  are  descended  from  so  many 
distinct  wild  stocks  as  to  suppose  this  to  be  the  case 
with  the  many  varieties  of  the  gooseberry,  heartsease, 
or  dahlia.  Yet  these  pigeons  all  breed  true,  and  many 
of  them  present  sub-varieties  which  likewise  truly  trans- 
mit their  character.  They  differ  greatly  from  each 
other  and  from  the  rock-pigeon  in  plumage,  slightly 
in  size  and  proportions  of  body,  in  size  of  feet,  and 
in  the  length  and  thickness  of  their  beaks.  They  differ 
from  each  other  in  these  respects  more  than  do  dovecot- 
piireons.  Although  we  may  safely  admit  that  the  latter, 
which  vary  slightly,  and  that  the  toy-pigeons,  which  vary 
in  a  greater  degree  in  accordance  with  their  more  highly- 
domesticated  condition,  arc  descended  from  C.  llvia,  in- 


230  DCCUESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

eluding  under  this  name  the  above-enumerated  wild  geo- 
graphical races ;  yet  the  question  becomes  far  more 
difficult  when  we  consider  the  eleven  principal  races, 
most  of  which  have  been  so  profoundly  modified.  It  can, 
however,  be  shown,  by  indirect  evidence  of  a  perfectly 
conclusive  nature,  that  these  principal  races  are  not  de- 
scended from  so  many  wild  stocks ;  and  if  this  be  once 
admitted,  few  will  dispute  that  they  are  the  descendants 
of  C.  llvia,  which  agrees  with  them  so  closely  in  habits 
and  in  most  characters,  which  varies  in  a  state  of  nature, 
and  which  has  certainly  undergone  a  considerable  amount 
of  variation,  as  in  the  toy-pigeons.  We  shall  moreover 
presently  see  how  eminently  favourable  circumstances 
have  been  for  a  great  amount  of  modification  in  the  more 
carefully  tended  breeds. 

The  reasons  for  concluding  that  the  several  principal 
races  have  not  descended  from  so  many  aboriginal  and 
unknown  stocks  may  be  grouped  under  the  following  six 
heads  : — Firstly,  if  the  eleven  chief  races  have  not  arisen 
from  the  variation  of  some  one  species,  together  with  its 
geographical  races,  they  must  be  descended  from  several 
extremely  distinct  aboriginal  species;  for  no  amount  of 
crossing  between  only  six  or  seven  wild  forms  could  pro- 
duce races  so  distinct  as  pouters,  carriers,  runts,  fantails, 
turbits,  short-faced  tumblers,  jacobines,  and  trumpeters. 
How  could  crossing  produce,  for  instance,  a  pouter  or  a 
fantail,  unless  the  two  supposed  aboriginal  parents  pos- 
sessed the  remarkable  characters  of  these  breeds?  I 
am  aware  that  some  naturalists,  following  Pallas,  believe 
that  crossing  gives  a  strong  tendency  to  variation,  inde- 
pendently of  the  characters  inherited  from  either  parent. 
They  believe  that  it  would  be  easier  to  raise  a  pouter  or 
fantail  pigeon  from  crossing  two  distinct  species,  neither 
of  which  possessed  the  characters  of  these  races,  than 
from  any  single  species.  I  can  find  few  facts  in  support 
of  this  doctrine,  and  believe  in  it  only  to  a  limited  degree  ; 
but  in  a  future  chapter  I  shall  have  to  recur  to  this  sub- 


Ohap.  71.  THEIR   PARENTAGE.  231 

ject.  For  our  present  purpose  the  point  is  not  material. 
The  question  which  concerns  us  is,  whether  or  not  many 
new  and  important  characters  have  arisen  since  man  first 
domesticated  the  pigeon.  On  the  ordinary  view,  varia- 
bility is  due  to  changed  conditions  of  life ;  on  the  Palla- 
sian  doctrine,  variability,  or  the  appearance  of  new  cha- 
racters, is  due  to  some  mysterious  effect  from  the  crossing 
of  two  species,  neither  of  which  possess  the  characters  in 
question.  In  some  few  instances  it  is  credible,  though 
for  several  reasons  not  probable,  that  well-marked  races 
have  been  formed  by  crossing  ;  for  instance,  a  barb  might 
perhaps  have  been  formed  by  a  cross  between  a  long-beak- 
ed carrier,  having  large  eye-wattles,  and  some  short -beak- 
ed pigeon.  That  many  races  have  been  in  some  degree 
modified  by  crossing,  and  that  certain  varieties  which  are 
distinguished  only  by  peculiar  tints  have  arisen  from 
crosses  between  differently-coloured  varieties,  may  be  ad- 
mitted as  almost  certain.  On  the  doctrine,  therefore, 
that  the  chief  races  owe  their  differences  to  their  descent 
from  distinct  species,  we  must  admit  that  at  least  eight 
or  nine,  or  more  probably  a  dozen  species,  all  having  the 
same  habit  of  breeding  and  roosting  on  rocks  and  living 
in  society,  either  now  exist  somewhere,  or  formerly  exist- 
ed but  have  become  extinct  as  wild  birds.  Considering 
how  carefully  wild  pigeons  have  been  collected  through- 
out the  world,  and  what  conspicuous  birds  they  are,  es- 
pecially when  frequenting  rocks,  it  is  extremely  impro- 
bable that  eiglit  or  nine  species,  which  were  long  ago 
domesticated  and  therefore  must  have  inhabited  some 
anciently  known  country,  should  still  exist  in  the  wild 
state  and  be  unknown  to  ornithologists. 

The  hypothesis  that  such  species  formerly  existed,  but 
have  become  extinct,  is  in  some  slight  degree  more  pro- 
bable. But  the  extinction  of  so  many  species  within  the 
historical  period  is  a  bold  hypothesis,  seeing  how  little 
influence  man  has  had  in  exterminating  the  common 
rock -pigeon,  which  agrees  in  all  its  habits  of  life  with  the 


232  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  \1 

domestic  races.  The  C.  livia  now  exists  and  flourishes 
on  the  small  northern  islands  of  Faroe,  on  many  islands 
off  the  coast  of  Scotland,  on  Sardinia  and  the  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean,  and  in  the  centre  of  India.  Fanciers 
have  sometimes  imagined  that  the  several  supposed  pa- 
rent-species were  originally  confined  to  small  islands, 
and  thus  might  readily  have  been  exterminated  ;  but  the 
facts  just  given  do  not  favour  the  probability  of  their 
extinction,  even  on  small  islands.  Nor  is  it  probable, 
from  what  is  known  of  the  distribution  of  birds,  that 
the  islands  near  Europe  should  have  been  inhabited 
by  peculiar  species  of  pigeons  ;  and  if  we  assume  that 
distant  oceanic  islands  were  the  homes  of  the  supposed 
parent-species,  we  must  remember  that  ancient  voyages 
were  tediously  slow,  and  that  ships  Avere  then  ill-pro- 
vided with  fresh  food,  so  that  it  would  not  have  been 
easy  to  bring  home  living  birds.  I  have  said  ancient 
voyages,  for  nearly  all  the  races  of  the  pigeon  were 
known  before  the  year  1600,  so  that  the  supposed  wild 
species  must  have  been  captured  and  domesticated  before 
that  date. 

Secondly. — The  doctrine  that  the  chief  domestic  races 
have  descended  from  several  aboriginal  species,  implies 
that  several  species  were  formerly  so  thoroughly  domes- 
ticated as  to  breed  readily  when  confined.  Although  it 
is  easy  to  tame  most  wild  birds,  experience  shows  us 
that  it  is  difficult  to  get  them  to  breed  freely  under  con- 
finement ;  although  it  must  be  owned  that  this  is  less 
difficult  with  pigeons  than  with  most  other  birds.  Dur- 
ing the  last  two  or  three  hundred  years,  many  birds  have 
been  kept  in  aviaries,  but  hardly  one  has  been  added 
to  our  list  of  thoroughly  reclaimed  species  ;  yet  on  the 
above  doctrine  we  must  admit  that  in  ancient  times 
nearly  a  dozen  kinds  of  pigeons,  now  unknown  in  the 
wild  state,  were  thoroughly  domesticated. 

Thirdly. — Most  of  our  domesticated  animals  have  run 
wild  in  various  parts  of  the  world  ;    but  birds,  owing 


Chap.  VI.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  233 

apparently  to  their  partial  loss  of  the  power  of  flight, 
less  often  than  quadrupeds.  Nevertheless  I  have  met 
with  aecounts  showing  that  the  common  fowl  has  become 
feral  in  South  America  and  perhaps  in  West  Africa,  and 
on  several  islands :  the  turkey  was  at  one  time  almost 
feral  on  the  banks  of  the  Parana  ;  and  the  Guinea-fowl 
h:is  become  perfectly  wild  at  Ascension  and  in  Jamaica. 
In  this  latter  island  the  peacock,  also,  "  has  become  a 
maroon  bird."  The  common  duck  wanders  from  its 
home  and  becomes  almost  wild  in  Norfolk.  Hybrids 
between  the  common  and  mnsk-duck  which  have  become 
wild  have  been  shot  in  North  America,  Belgium,  and 
near  the  Caspian  Sea.  The  goose  is  said  to  have  run 
wild  in  La  Plata.  The  common  dovecot-pigeon  has  be- 
come wild  at  Juan  Fernandez,  Norfolk  Island,  Ascension, 
probably  at  Madeira,  on  the  shores  of  Scotland,  and,  as 
is  asserted,  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  in  North  Ame- 
rica.18 But  how  different  is  the  case,  when  we  turn  to 
the  eleven  chief  domestic  races  of  the  pigeon,  which  are 
supposed  by  some  authors  to  be  descended  from  so  many 
distinct  species  !  no  one  has  ever  pretended  that  any  one 
of  these  races  has  been  found  wild  in  any  quarter  of  the 
world  ;  yet  they  have  been  transported  to  all  countries, 
and  some  of  them  must  have  been  carried  back  to  their 
native  homes.     On  the  view  that  all  the  races  are  the 


19  With  respect  to  feral  pigeons — for  'American     Ornithology,'    and     Selys- 

Juan  Fernandez,  see  Bertero  in  l  Annal.  Longchamp's  '  Hybrides  dans  la  Famille 

des  Sc.  Nat.,'  torn  xxi.  p.  851.     For  Nor-  des  Anatides.'     For  the  goose,  Isidore 

folk  Inland,  see  Rev.  E.  S.  Dixon  in  the  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire,  •Hist.   Nat.  Gen.,' 

'  Dovecote,' 1S51 .  p.  14,  on  the  authority  torn.  iii.  p.  493.     For  guinea-fowls,  see 

Of  Mr.  Gould.     For  Ascension  I  rely  on  Gosse's  '  Naturalist's  Sojourn  in  Jamai- 

MS.  information  given  me  by  Mr.  Layard.  ca,' p.  124  ;  and  his 'Birds  of   Jamaica' 

For  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  see  Blyth  for  fuller  particulars.     I  saw   the  wild 

in  '  Annals  of  Nat.  Hist.,'  vol.  XX.,  1  ^57,  Guinea-fowl  in  Ascension.     For  the  pea- 

p.  511.     For  Scotland,  see  Macpillivray,  cock,  see  '  A  Week  at  Port  Royal,'  by  a 

'  British     Birds, '   vol.   i.   p.   275  ;    also  competent  authority,  Mr.  R.  Hill,  p.  42. 

Thompson's    '  Nat.  History  of   Ireland,  For  the  turkey  I  rely  on  oral  informal 

Birds,'  vol.  ii.  p.  11.    For  ducks,  see  Rev.  tion;  I  ascertained  that  they  were  not 

K.  S.  Dixon,  'Ornamental  Poultry,'  1S47,  Curassows.       With   respect    to   fowls   I 

p.  122.      For  the  feral  hybrids  of  the  will   give    the    references  in   the   next 

common  and  musk-ducks,  see  Audubon's  chapter. 


234  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VL 

product  of  variation,  we  can  understand  why  they  have 
not  become  feral,  for  the  great  amount  of  modification 
which  they  have  undergone  shows  how  long  and  how 
thoroughly  they  have  been  domesticated ;  and  this  would 
unfit  them  for  a  wild  life. 

Fourthly. — If  it  be  assumed  that  the  characteristic  dif- 
ferences between  the  various  domestic  races  are  due  to 
descent  from  several  aboriginal  species,  we  must  con- 
clude that  man  chose  for  domestication  in  ancient  times, 
either  intentionally  or  by  chance,  a  most  abnormal  set 
of  pigeons ;  for  that  species  resembling  such  birds  as 
pouters,  fantails,  carriers,  barbs,  short-faced  tumblers, 
turbits,  &c,  would  be  in  the  highest  degree  abnormal, 
as  compared  with  all  the  existing  members  of  the  great 
pigeon-family,  cannot  be  doubted.  Thus  we  should  have 
to  believe  that  man  not  only  formerly  succeeded  in 
thoroughly  domesticating  several  highly  abnormal  spe- 
cies, but  that  these  same  species  have  since  all  become 
extinct,  or  are  at  least  now  unknown.  This  double  acci- 
dent is  so  extremely  improbable  that  the  assumed  exist- 
ence of  so  many  abnormal  species  would  require  to  be 
supported  by  the  strongest  evidence.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  all  the  races  are  descended  from  C.  livia,  we  can  un- 
derstand, as  will  hereafter  be  more  fully  explained,  how 
any  slight  deviation  in  structure  which  first  appeared 
would  continually  be  augmented  by  the  preservation  of 
the  most  strongly  marked  individuals  ;  and  as  the  power 
of  selection  would  be  applied  according  to  man's  fancy, 
and  not  for  the  bird's  own  good,  the  accumulated  amount 
of  deviation  would  certainly  be  of  an  abnormal  nature  in 
comparison  with  the  structure  of  pigeons  living  in  a 
state  of  nature. 

I  have  already  alluded  to  the  remarkable  fact,  that  the 
characteristic  differences  between  the  chief  domestic 
races  are  eminently  variable  :  we  see  this  plainly  in  the 
great  difference  in  the  number  of  the  tail-feathers  in  the 
fantail,  in  the  development  of  the  crop  in  pouters,  in  the 


Chap.  TI. 


THEIR    PARENTAGE. 


235 


length  of  the  beak  in  tumblers,  in  the  state  of  the  wattle 
in  carriers,  &c.  If  these  characters  are  the  result  of  suc- 
cessive variations  added  together  by  selection,  we  can 
understand  why  they  should  be  so  variable :  for  these 
are  the  very  parts  which  have  varied  since  the  domesti- 
cation of  the  pigeon,  and  therefore  would  be  likely  still 
to  vary ;  these  variations  moreover  have  been  recently, 
and  are  still  being  accumulated  by  man's  selection ; 
therefore  they  have  not  as  yet  become  firmly  fixed. 

Fifthly. — All  the  domestic  races  pair  readily  together, 
and,  what  is  equally  important,  their  mongrel  offspring 
are  perfectly  fertile.  To  ascertain  this  fact  I  made  many 
experiments,  which  are  given  in  the  note  below ;  and 
recently  Mr.  Tegetmeier  has  made  similar  experiments 
with  the  same  result.19  The  accurate  Nenmeister  20  as- 
serts that  when  dovecots  are  crossed  with  pigeons  of  any 


"  I  have  drawn  out  a  long  table  of 
the  various  crosses  made  by  fanciers 
between  the  several  domestic  breeds, 
but  I  do  not  think  it  worth  pub- 
lishing. I  have  myself  made  for  this 
special  purpose  many  crosses,  and  all 
were  perfectly  fertile.  I  have  united 
In  one  bird  five  of  the  most  distinct 
races,  and  with  patience  I  might  un- 
doubtedly have  thus  united  all.  The 
case  of  five  distinct  breeds  being  blended 
together  with  unimpaired  fertility  is 
important,  because  Gartner  has  shown 
that  it  is  a  very  general,  though  not, 
as  he  thought,  universal  rule,  that  com- 
plex crosses  between  several  species  are 
excessively  sterile.  I  have  met  with  only 
two  or  three  cases  of  reported  sterility 
in  the  offspring  of  certain  races  when 
crossed.  Von  Pistor  ('  Das  Ganze 
der  Feld-taubenzucht,'  1831,  s.  15) 
asserts  that  the  mongrels  from  barbs 
and  fantails  are  sterile  :  I  have  proved 
this  to  be  erroneous,  not  only  by  cross- 
ing these  hybrids  with  several  other 
hybrids  of  the  same  parentage,  but  by 
the  more  severe  test  of  pairing  brother 
and  sister  hybrids  inter  se,  and  they 
were  perfectly  fertile.     Temminck  has 


stated  ('  Hist.  Nat.  Gen.  des  Pigeons,' 
torn.  i.  p.  197)  that  the  turbit  or  owl 
will  not  cross  readily  with  other 
breeds:  but  my  turbits  crossed,  when 
left  free,  with  almond  tumblers  and 
with  trumpeters ;  the  same  thing  has 
occurred  (Rev.  E.  S.  Dixon,  '  The 
Dovecot,'  p.  107)  between  turbits 
and  dovecots  and  nuns.  I  have 
crossed  turbits  with  barbs,  as  has  M. 
Boitard  (p.  31),  who  says  the  hybrids 
were  very  fertile.  Hybrids  from  a  turbit 
and  fantail  have  been  known  to  breed 
inter  ne  (Riedel,  Taubenzucht,  s.  25, 
and  Bechstein,  '  Naturgesch.  Deutsch.' 
B.  iv.  s.  44).  Turbits  (Riedel,  s.  26) 
have  been  crossed  with  pouters  and  with 
jacobins,  and  with  a  hybrid  jacobin- 
trumpeter  (Riedel,  s.  27).  The  latter 
author  has,  however,  made  some  vague 
statements  (a.  22)  on  the  sterility  of 
turbits  when  crossed  with  certain  other 
crossed  breeds.  But  I  have  little  doubt 
that  the  Rev.  E.  S.  Dixon's  explanation 
of  such  statements  is  correct,  viz.  that 
individual  birds  both  with  turbits  and 
other  breeds  are  occasional!    sterile. 

30  'Das    Ganze    der     Taubenzucht,' 
8.  18. 


236 


DOMESTIC   PIGEONS. 


Chap.  VI. 


other  breed,  the  mongrels  are  extremely  fertile  and 
hardy.  MM.  Boitard  and  Corbie 21  affirm,  after  their  great 
experience,  that  with  crossed  pigeons  the  more  distinct 
the  breeds,  the  more  productive  are  their  mongrel  off- 
spring. I  admit  that  the  doctrine  first  broached  by 
Pallas  is  highly  probable,  if  not  actually  proved,  namely, 
that  closely  allied  species,  Avhich  in  a  state  of  nature  or 
when  first  captured  would  have  been  in  some  degree 
sterile  when  crossed,  lose  this  sterility  after  a  long  course 
of  domestication  ;  yet  when  we  consider  the  great  differ- 
ence between  such  races  as  pouters,  carriers,  runts,  fan- 
tails,  turbits,  tumblers,  &c,  the  fact  of  their  perfect,  or 
even  increased,  fertility  when  intercrossed  in  the  most 
complicated  manner  becomes  a  strong  argument  in  favour 
of  their  having  all  descended  from  a  single  species.  This 
argument  is  rendered  much  stronger  when  we  hear  (I 
append  in  a  note  "  all  the  cases  which  I  have  collected) 


51  '  Les  Pigeons,'  4c,  p.  35. 

33  Domestic  pigeons  pair  readily  with 
the  allied  C.  oenas  (Bechstein,  '  Natur- 
gesch.  Deutschlands,'  B.  iv.  s.  3)  ;  and 
Mr.  Brent  has  made  the  same  cross  seve- 
ral times  in  England,  but  the  young  were 
very  apt  to  die  at  about  ten  days  old ; 
one  hybrid  which  he  reared  (from  C. 
oenas  and  a  male  Antwerp  carrier)  pair- 
ed with  a  dragon,  but  never  laid  eggs. 
Bechstein  further  states  (s.  26)  that  the 
domestic  pigeon  will  cross  with  C.  pa- 
lunibus,  Tartur  risoria,  and  T.  vulga- 
ris, but  nothing  is  said  of  the  fertility  of 
the  hybrids,  and  this  would  have  been 
mentioned  had  the  fact  been  ascertained. 
In  the  Zoological  Gardens  (MS.  report  to 
me  from  Mr.  James  Hunt)  a  male  hybrid 
from  Turtur  vulgaris  and  a  domestic 
pigeon  "  paired  with  several  different 
species  of  pigeons  and  doves,  but  none 
of  the  eggs  were  good."  Hybrids  from 
C.  oenas  and  gymnophthalmos  were 
sterile.  In  Loudon's  '  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.' 
vol.  vii.  1834,  p.  154,  it  is  said  that  a 
male  hybrid  (from  Turtur  vulgaris 
male,  and  the  cream-coloured  T.  risoria 
female)  paired  during  two  years  with  a  fe- 


male T.  risoria,  and  the  latter  laid  many 
eggs,  but  all  were  sterile.  MM.  Boitard 
and  Corbie  ('  Les  Pigeons,'  p.  235)  state 
that  the  hybrids  from  these  two  turtle- 
doves are  invariably  sterile  both  inter 
se  and  with  either  pure  parent.  The  ex- 
periment was  tried  by  M.  Corbie  "  avec 
une  espece  d'obstination  ;"  and  likewise 
by  M.  Manduyt,  and  by  M.  Vieillot.  Tem- 
minck  also  found  the  hybrids  from  these 
two  species  quite  barren.  Therefore, 
when  Bechstein  ('  Naturgesch.  Vogel. 
Deutschlands,'  B.  4,  s.  101)  asserts  that 
the  hybrids  from  these  two  turtle-doves 
propagate  inter  se  equally  well  with  pure 
species,  and  when  a  writer  in  the  '  Field ' 
newspaper  (in  a  letter  dated  Nov.  10th, 
1S5S)  makes  a  similar  assertion,  it  would 
appear  that  there  must  be  some  mistake  ; 
though  what  the  mistake  is  I  know  not, 
as  Bechstein  at  least  must  have  kuown 
the  white  variety  of  T.  risoria:  it  would 
be  an  unparalleled  fact  if  the  same  two 
species  sometimes  produced  extremely 
fertile,  and  sometimes  extremely  barren, 
offspring.  In  the  MS.  report  from  the 
Zoological  Gardens  it  is  said  that  hybrids 
from  Turtur  vulgaris  and  suratensis, 


Chap.  VI.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  237 

that  hardly  a  single  well-ascertained  instance  is  known 
of  hybrids  between  two  true  species  of  pigeons  being  fer- 
tile, inter  se,  or  even  when  crossed  with  one  of  their  pure 
parents. 

Sixthly. — Excluding  certain  important  characteristic 
differences,  the  chief  races  agree  most  closely  both  with 
each  other  and  with  C.  livia  in  all  other  respects.  As 
previously  observed,  all  are  eminently  sociable ;  all  dis- 
like to  perch  or  roost,  and  refuse  to  build  in  trees ;  all 
lay  two  eggs,  and  this  is  not  a  universal  rule  with  the 
Columbidae ;  all,  as  far  as  I  can  hear,  require  the  same 
time  for  hatching  their  eggs ;  all  can  endure  the  same 
great  range  of  climate ;  all  prefer  the  same  food,  and  are 
passionately  fond  of  salt;  all  exhibit  (with  the  asserted 
exception  of  the  finnikin  and  turner,  which  do  not  differ 
much  in  any  other  character)  the  same  peculiar  gestures 
when  courting  the  females;  and  all  (with  the  exception  of 
trumpeters  and  laughers,  which  likewise  do  not  differ  much 
in  any  other  character)  coo  in  the  same  peculiar  manner, 
unlike  the  voice  of  any  other  wild  pigeon.  All  the  co- 
loured breeds  display  the  same  peculiar  metallic  tints  on 
the  breast,  a  character  far  from  general  with  pigeons. 
Each  race  presents  nearly  the  same  range  of  variation  in 
colour ;  and  in  most  of  the  races  we  have  the  same  singu- 
lar correlation  between  the  development  of  down  in  the 
young  and  the  future  colour  of  plumage.  All  have  the 
proportional  length  of  their  toes,  and  of  their  primary 
wing-feathers,  nearly  the  same,  —  characters  which  are 
apt  to  differ  in  the  several  members  of  the  Columbida3. 


and  from  T.  vulgaris  and  Ectopistet  mi-  tus  with  T.  cambayensis  and  with  T. 

gratorius,  were  sterile.  Two  of  the  latter  suralensis ;  but  nothing  is  said  of  their 

male  hybrids  paired  with  their  pure  pa-  fertility.     At  the  Zoological  Gardens  of 

rents,   viz.    Turtitr  vulgaris   and   the  London  the  Goura  coronata  and  victo- 

Ectopistes,  and  likewise  with  T.  risoria  rim  produced  a  hybrid,  which   paired 

and  with  Columba  oenas,  and  many  eggs  with  the  pure  G.  coronata,  and  laid  seve- 

were    produced,   but    all    were    barren.  ral  eggs,  but  these  proved  barren.     In 

At  Paris,  hybrids  have  been  raised  (Isid.  1S60    Columba    gymnophthalmos   and 

Geoffroy  Saint  Hiluire,  '  Hist.  Nat.  Gene-  maculosa  produced    hybrids   in    these 

rale,'  torn.  Ui.  p.  180)  from  Turtur  auri-  same  gardens. 


238  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  TI. 

In  those  races  which  present  some  remarkable  deviation 
of  structure,  such  as  the  tail  of  fantails,  crop  of  pouters, 
beak  of  carriers  and  tumblers,  &c,  the  other  parts  re- 
main nearly  unaltered.  Now  every  naturalist  will  admit 
that  it  would  be  scarcely  possible  to  pick  out  a  dozen 
natural  species  in  any  Family,  which  should  agree  closely 
in  habits  and  in  general  structure,  and  yet  should  differ 
greatly  in  a  few  characters  alone.  This  fact  is  explicable 
through  the  doctrine  of  natural  selection ;  for  each  suc- 
cessive modification  of  structure  in  each  natural  species 
is  preserved,  solely  because  it  is  of  service ;  and  such 
modifications  when  largely  accumulated  imply  a  great 
change  in  the  habits  of  life,  and  this  will  almost  certainly 
lead  to  other  changes  of  structure  throughout  the  whole 
organisation.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  several  races  of 
the  pigeon  have  been  produced  by  man  through  selection 
and  variation,  we  can  readily  understand  how  it  is  that 
they  should  still  all  resemble  each  other  in  habits  and  in 
those  many  characters  which  man  has  not  cared  to  modi- 
fy, whilst  they  differ  to  so  prodigious  a  degree  in  those 
parts  which  have  struck  his  eye  or  pleased  his  fancy. 

Besides  the  points  above  enumerated,  in  which  all  the 
domestic  races  resemble  C.  lima  and  each  other,  there  is 
one  which  deserves  special  notice.  The  wild  rock-pigeon 
is  of  a  slaty-blue  colour;  the  wings  are  crossed  by  two 
black  bars ;  the  croup  varies  in  colour,  being  generally 
white  in  the  pigeon  of  Europe,  and  blue  in  that  of  India  ; 
the  tail  has  a  black  bar  close  to  the  end,  and  the  outer 
webs  of  the  outer  tail-feathers  are  edged  with  white,  ex- 
cept near  the  tips.  These  combined  characters  are  not 
found  in  any  wild  pigeon  besides  C.  livia.  I  have  looked 
carefully  through  the  great  collection  of  pigeons  in  the 
British  Museum,  and  I  find  that  a  dark  bar  at  the  end 
of  the  tail  is  common  ;  that  the  white  edging  to  the  outer 
tail-feathers  is  not  rare ;  but  that  the  white  croup  is  ex- 
tremely rare,  and  the  two  black  bars  on  the  wings  occur 
in  no  other  pigeon,  excepting  the  alpine  C.  leuconota  and 


Chap.  VI. 


THEIR    REVERSION    IN    COLOUR. 


239 


C.  rupestri*  of  Asia.  Now  if  we  turn  to  the  domestic 
races,  it  is  highly  remarkable,  as  an  eminent  fancier,  Mr. 
Wicking,  observed  to  me,  that,  whenever  a  blue  bird  ap- 
pears in  any  race,  the  wings  almost  invariably  show  the 
double  black  bars."  The  primary  wing-feathers  may  be 
white  or  black,  and  the  whole  body  maybe  of  any  colour, 
but  if  the  wing-coverts  alone  are  blue,  the  two  black  bars 
surely  appear.  I  have  myself  seen,  or  acquired  trust- 
worthy evidence,  as  given  below,24  of  blue  birds  with 
black  bars  on  the  wing,  with  the  croup  either  white  or 
very  pale  or  dark  blue,  with  the  tail  having  a  terminal 
black  bar,  and  with  the  outer  feathers  externally  edged 
with  white  or  very  pale  coloured,  in  the  following  races, 


*s  There  is  one  exception  to  the  rule, 
namely  in  a  sub-variety  of  the  swallow 
of  German  origin,  which  is  figured  by 
Neumeister,  and  was  shown  to  me  by 
Mr  Wicking.  This  bird  is  blue,  but 
bas  not  the  black  wing-bars ;  for  our 
object,  however,  in  tracing  the  descent 
of  the  chief  races,  this  exception  signi- 
fies the  less  as  the  swallow  approaches 
closely  in  structure  to  C.  livia.  In 
many  sub-varieties,  the  black  bars  are 
replaced  by  bars  of  various  colours.  The 
figures  given  by  Neumeister  are  sufficient 
to  show  that,  if  the  wings  alone  are  blue, 
the  black  wing-bars  appear. 

s*  I  have  observed  blue  birds  with  all 
the  above  mentioned  marks  in  the  fol- 
lowing races,  which  seemed  to  be  per- 
fectly pure,  and  were  shown  at  various 
exhibitions.  Pouters,  with  the  double 
black  wing-bars,  with  white  croup,  dark 
bar  to  end  of  tail,  and  white  edging  to 
outer  tail-feathers.  Turbits,  with  all 
these  same  characters.  Fantails,  with  the 
ame  ;  but  the  group  in  some  was  bluish 
or  pure  blue :  Mr.  Wicking  bred  blue 
fantails  from  two  black  birds.  Carriers 
(including  the  Bagadotten  of  Neumei- 
Bter),  with  all  the  marks :  two  birds 
which  I  examined  had  white,  and  two 
had  blue  croups  ;  the  white  edging  to 
the  outer  tail-feathers  was  not  present 
In  all.    Mr.  Corker,  a  great  breeder,  as- 


sures me  that,  if  black  carriers  are 
matched  for  many  successive  genera- 
tions, the  offspring  become  first  ash- 
coloured,  and  then  blue  with  black 
wing-bars.  Runts  of  the  elongated 
breed  had  the  same  marks,  but  the 
croup  was  pale  blue ;  the  outer  tail- 
feathers  had  white  edges.  Neumeister 
figures  the  great  Florence  Runt  of  a  blue 
colour  with  black  bars.  Jacobins  are 
very  rarely  blue,  but  I  have  received 
authentic  accounts  of  at  least  two  in- 
stances of  the  blue  variety  with  black 
bars  having  appeared  in  England  :  blue 
jacobins  were  bred  by  Mr.  Brent  from 
two  black  birds.  I  have  seen  common 
tumblers,  both  Indian  and  English,  and 
short-faced  tumblers,  of  a  blue  colour, 
with  black  wing-bars,  with  the  black 
bar  at  the  end  of  the  tail,  and  with  the 
outer  tail-feathers  edged  with  white; 
the  croup  in  all  was  blue,  or  extremely 
pale  blue,  never  absolutely  white.  Blue 
barbs  and  trumpeters  seem  to  be  ex- 
cessively rare ;  but  Neumeister,  who 
may  be  implicitly  trusted,  figures  blue 
varieties  of  both,  with  black  wing-bars. 
Mr.  Brent  informs  me  that  he  has  seen 
a  blue  barb ;  and  Mr.  H.  Weir,  as  I  am 
informed  by  Mr.  Tegctmeler,  once  bred 
a  silver  (which  means  very  pale  blue) 
barb  from  two  yellow  birds. 


240  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VL 

which,  as  I  carefully  observed  in  each  case,  appeared  to 
be  perfectly  pure  :  namely,  in  Pouters,  Fantails,  Tumblers, 
Jacobins,  Turbits,  Barbs,  Carriers,  Runts  of  three  dis- 
tinct varieties,  Trumpeters,  Swallows,  and  in  many  other 
toy-pigeons,  which,  as  being  closely  allied  to  C.  livid,  are 
not  worth  enumerating.  Thus  we  see  that,  in  purely- 
bred  races  of  every  kind  known  in  Europe,  blue  birds  oc- 
casionally appear  having  all  the  marks  which  charac- 
terise C.  livia,  and  which  concur  in  no  other  wild  species. 
Mr.  Blyth,  also,  has  made  the  same  observation  with  re 
spect  to  the  various  domestic  races  known  in  India. 

Certain  variations  in  the  plumage  are  equally  common 
in  the  wild  G.  livia,  in  dovecot-pigeons,  and  in  all  the 
most  highly  modified  races.  Thus,  in  all,  the  croup  varies 
from  white  to  blue,  being  most  frequently  white  in  Eu- 
rope, and  very  generally  blue  in  India."  We  have  seen 
that  the  wild  C.  livia  in  Europe,  and  dovecots  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  often  have  the  upper  wing-coverts  chequered 
with  black ;  and  all  the  most  distinct  races,  when  blue, 
are  occasionally  chequered  in  precisely  the  same  manner. 
Thus  I  have  seen  Pouters,  Fantails,  Carriers,  Turbits, 
Tumblers  (Indian  and  English),  Swallows,  Bald-pates, 
and  other  toy-pigeons  blue  and  chequered ;  and  Mr.  Es- 
quilant  has  seen  a  chequered  Runt.  I  bred  from  two 
pure  blue  Tumblers  a  chequered  bird. 

The  facts  hitherto  given  refer  to  the  occasional  appear- 
ance in  pure  races  of  blue  birds  with  black  wing-bars, 
and  likewise  of  blue  and  chequered  birds;  but  it  will 
now  be  seen  that  when  two  birds  belonging  to  distinct 
races  are  crossed,  neither  of  which  have,  nor  probably 


26  Mr.  Blyth  Informs  me  that  all  the  has  some  white  feathers  on  the  croup 

domestic  races  in  India  have  the  croup  alone.    In  some  other  Indian   pigeons 

blue  ;  but  this   is  not   invariable,   for  I  there  were  a  few  white  feathers  confined 

possess  a  very  pale  blue  Simmali  pigeon  to  the  croup,  and  I  hare  noticed  the  same 

with  the  croup  perfectly  white,  sent  to  fact  in  a  carrier  from  Persia.     The  Java 

me  by  Sir  W.   Elliot  from  Madras.    A  fantail  (imported  into  Amoy,  and  thence 

slaty-blue  and  chequered  Nakshi  pigeon  sent  me)  has  a  perfectly  white  croup. 


Chap.  VI.  THEIR    REVERSION    IN    COLOUR,  241 

have  Intel  (luring  many  generations,  a  trace  of  blue  in 
their  plumage,  or  a  trace  of  wing-bars  and  the  other  cha- 
racteristic marks,  they  very  frequently  produce  mongrel 
oifspring  of  a  blue  colour,  sometimes  chequered,  with 
black  wing-bars,  <fec. ;  or  if  not  of  a  blue  colour,  yet  with 
the  several  characteristic  marks  more  or  less  plainly  de- 
veloped. I  was  led  to  investigate  this  subject  from  MM. 
Boitard  and  Corbie 26  having  asserted  that  from  crosses 
between  certain  breeds  it  is  rare  to  get  anything  but  bi- 
sets  or  dovecot-pigeons,  which,  as  we  know,  ai-e  blue  birds 
with  the  usual  characteristic  marks.  We  shall  hereafter 
see  that  this  subject  possesses,  independently  of  our  pre- 
sent object,  considerable  interest,  so  that  I  will  give  the 
results  of  my  own  trials  in  full.  I  selected  for  experiment 
races  which,  when  pure,  very  seldom  produce  birds  of  a 
blue  colour,  or  have  bars  on  their  wings  and  tail. 

The  nun  is  white,  with  the  head,  tail,  and  primary 
wing-feathers  black ;  it  is  a  breed  which  Avas  established 
as  long  ago  as  the  year  1600.  I  crossed  a  male  nun  with 
a  female  red  common  tumbler,  which  latter  variety  gen- 
erally breeds  true.  Thus  neither  parent  had  a  trace  of 
blue  in  the  plumage,  or  of  bars  on  the  wing  and  tail.  I 
should  premise  that  common  tumblers  are  rarely  blue  in 
England.  From  the  above  cross  I  reared  several  young : 
one  was  red  over  the  whole  back,  but  with  the  tail  as 
blue  as  that  of  the  rock-pigeon ;  the  terminal  bar,  how- 
ever, was  absent,  but  the  outer  feathers  were  edged  with 
white  :  a  second  and  third  nearly  resembled  the  first,  but 
the  tail  in  both  presented  a  trace  of  the  bar  at  the  end:  a 
fourth  Mas  brownish,  and  the  wings  showed  a  trace  of 
the  double  bar:  a  fifth  was  pale  blue  over  the  whole 
breast,  back,  croup,  and  tail,  but  the  neck  and  primary 
wing-feathers  were  rechiish  ;  the  wings  presented  two  dis- 
tinct bars  of  a  red  colour ;  the  tail  was  not  barred,  but 
the  outer  feathers  were  edged  with  white.    I  crossed  this 


a«  <  Leg  pigeons,'  4c,  p.  37. 


242  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

last  curiously  colored  bird  with  a  black  mongrel  of  com- 
plicated descent,  namely,  from  a  black  barb,  a  spot,  and 
almond  tumbler,  so  that  the  two  young  birds  produced 
from  this  cross  included  the  blood  of  five  varieties,  none 
of  which  had  a  trace  of  blue,  or  of  wing  and  tail  bars : 
one  of  the  two  young  birds  was  brownish-black,  with 
black  wing-bars ;  the  other  was  reddish-dun,  with  red- 
dish wing-bars,  paler  than  the  rest  of  the  body,  with  the 
croup  pale  blue,  the  tail  bluish,  with  a  trace  of  the  termi- 
nal bar. 

Mr.  Eaton  "  matched  two  short-faced  tumblers,  name- 
ly,  a  splash  cock  and  kite  hen  (neither  of  which  are  blue 
or  barred),  and  from  the  first  nest  he  got  a  perfect  blue 
bird,  and  from  the  second  a  silver  or  pale  blue  bird,  both 
of  which,  in  accordance  with  all  analogy,  no  doubt  pre- 
sented the  usual  characteristic  marks. 

I  crossed  two  male  black  barbs  with  two  female  red 
spots.  These  latter  have*  the  whole  body  and  wings 
white,  with  a  spot  on  the  forehead,  the  tail  and  tail-cov- 
erts red;  the  race  existed  as  least  as  long  ago  as  1676, 
and  now  breeds  perfectly  true,  as  was  known  to  be  the 
case  in  the  year  1735.28  Barbs  aue  uniformly-colored 
birds,  with  rarely  even  a  trace  of  bars  on  the  wing  or 
tail;  they  are  known  to  breed  very  true.  The  mongrels 
thus  raised  were  black  or  nearly  black,  or  dark  or  pale 
brown,  sometimes  slightly  piebald  with  white :  of  these 
birds  no  less  than  six  presented  double  wing-bars  ;  in 
two  the  bars  were  conspicuous  and  quite  black;  in  seven 
some  white  feathers  appeared  on  the  croup  ;  and  in  two 
or  three  there  was  a  trace  of  the  terminal  bar  to  the  tail, 
but  in  none  were  the  outer  tail-feathers  edged  with  white. 

I  crossed  black  barbs  (of  two  excellent  strains)  Avith 
purely-bred,  snow-white  fantails.^.  The  mongrels  were 
genei'ally  quite  black,  with  a  few  of  the  primary  wing 


-7  '  Treatise  on  Pigeons,'  1S5S,  p.  145. 

"3  J.  Moore's  '  Coluaibarium,'  1735,  in  J.  M.  Eaton's  e.lition,  1S52,  p.  Tl. 


Chap.  VI.)  THEIR    REVERSION    IN    COLOUR.  243 

and  tail-feathers  white  :  others  were  dark  reddish-brown, 
and  others  snow-white  :  none  had  a  trace  of  wing-bars 
or  of  the  white  croup.  I  then  paired  together  two  of 
these  mongrels,  namely,  a  brown  and  black  bird,  and 
their  offspring  displayed  wing-bars,  faint,  but  of  a  darker 
brown  than  the  rest  of  body.  In  a  second  brood  from 
the  same  parents  a  brown  bird  was  produced,  with  seve- 
ral white  feathers  confined  to  the  croup. 

I  crossed  a  male  dun  dragon  belonging  to  a  ftimily 
which  had  been  dun-coloured  without  wing-bars  during 
several  generations,  with  a  uniform  red  barb  (bred  from 
two  black  barbs) ;  and  the  offspring  presented  decided 
but  faint  traces  of  wing-bars.  I  crossed  a  uniform  red 
male  runt  with  a  white  trumpeter ;  and  the  offspring 
had  a  slaty-blue  tail,  with  a  bar  at  the  end,  and  with  the 
outer  feathers  edged  with  white.  I  also  crossed  a  female 
black  and  white  chequered  trumpeter  (of  a  different 
strain  from  the  last)  with  a  male  almond-tumbler,  neither 
of  which  exhibited  a  trace  of  blue,  or  of  the  white  croup, 
or  of  the  bar  at  end  of  tail :  nor  is  it  probable  that  the 
progenitors  of  these  two  birds  had  for  many  generations 
exhibited  any  of  these  characters,  for  I  have  never  even 
heard  of  a  blue  trumpeter  in  this  country,  and  my  al- 
mond-tumbler was  purely  bred;  yet  the  tail  of  this 
mongrel  was  bluish,  with  a  broad  black  bar  at  the  end, 
and  the  croup  was  perfectly  white.  It  may  be  observed 
in  several  of  these  cases,,  that  the  tail  first  shows  a  ten- 
dency to  become  by  reversion  blue ;  and  this  fact  of  the 
persistency  of  colour  in  the  tail  and  tail-coverts a9  will 
surprise  no  one  wdio  has  attended  to  the  crossing  of 
pigeons. 

29  I  could  give  numerous  examples ;  grel,  whose  four  grandparents  were  a 
two  will  suffice.  A  mongrel,  whose  four  red  runt,  white  trumpeter,  white  fantail, 
grandparents  were  a  white  turbit,  white  and  the  same  blue  pouter,  was  pure 
trumpeter,  white  fantail,  and  blue  pouter,  white  all  over,  except  the  tail  and  upper 
was  white  all  over,  except  a  very  few  tail-coverts,  which  were  pale  fawn,  and 
feathers  about  the  head  and  on  the  except  the  faintest  trace  of  double  wing- 
wings,  but  the  whole  tail  and  tail-coverts  bars  of  the  same  pale  fawn  tint, 
were  dark  bluish-grey.     Another  mon- 


244  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

The  last  case  which  I  will  give  is  the  most  curious.  I 
paired  a  mongrel  female  barb-fantail  with  a  mongrel 
male  barb-spot ;  neither  of  which  mongrels  had  the 
least  blue  about  them.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  blue 
barbs  are  excessively  rare ;  that  spots,  as  has  been 
already  stated,  were  perfectly  characterized  in  the  year 
1676,  and  breed  perfectly  true;  this  likewise  is  the  case 
with  white  fantails,  so  much  so  that  I  have  never  heard 
of  white  fantails  throwing  any  other  colour.  Neverthe- 
less the  offspring  from  the  above  two  mongrels  was  of 
exactly  the  same  blue  tint  as  that  of  the  wild  rock-pigeon 
from  the  Shetland  Islands  over  the  whole  back  and  wings  ; 
the  double  black  wing-bars  were  equally  conspicuous ; 
the  tail  was  exactly  alike  in  all  its  characters,  and  the 
croup  was  pure  white ;  the  head,  however,  was  tinted 
with  a  shade  of  red,  evidently  derived  from  the  spot,  and 
was  of  a  paler  blue  than  in  the  rock-pigeon,  as  was  the 
stomach.  So  that  two  black  barbs,  a  red  spot,  and  a 
white  fantail,  as  the  four  purely-bred  grandparents,  pro- 
duced a  bird  of  the  same  general  blue  colour,  together 
with  every  characteristic  mark,  as  in  the  wild  Golumba 
Uvia. 

With  respect  to  crossed  breeds  frequently  producing 
blue  birds  chequered  with  black,  and  resembling  in  all 
respects  both  the  dovecot-pigeon  and  the  chequered 
wild  variety  of  the  rock-pigeon,  the  statement  before 
referred  to  by  MM.  Boitard  and  Corbie  would  almost 
suffice ;  but  I  will  give  three  instances  of  the  appearance 
of  such  birds  from  crosses  in  which  one  alone  of  the  pa- 
rents or  great-grandpai'ents  was  blue,  but  not  chequered. 
I  crossed  a  male  blue  turbit  with  a  snow-white  trumpet- 
er, and  the  following  year  with  a  dark,  leaden-brown, 
short- faced  tumbler;  the  offspring  from  the  first  cross 
were  as  perfectly  chequered  as  any  dovecot-pigeon ;  and 
from  the  second,  so  much  so  as  to  be  nearly  as  black  as 
the  most  darkly  chequered  rock-pigeon  from  Madeira. 
Another  bird,  whose  great-grandparents  were  a  white 


Chap.  VI.  THEIR    REVERSION    IN    COLOUR.  245 

trumpeter,  a  white  fantail,  a  white  red-spot,  a  red  runt, 
and  a  blue  pouter,  was  slaty-blue  and  chequered  exactly 
like  a  dovecot-pigeon.  I  may  here  add  a  remark  made  to 
me  by  Mr.  Wicking,  who  has  had  more  experience  than 
any  other  person  in  England  in  breeding  pigeons  of 
various  colours  :  namely,  that  when  a  blue,  or  a  blue  and 
chequered  bird,  having  black  wing-bars,  once  appears  in 
any  raee  and  is  allowed  to  breed,  these  characters  are  so 
strongly  transmitted  that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to 
eradicate  them. 

What,  then,  are  we  to  conclude  from  this  tendency  in 
all  the  chief  domestic  races,  both  when  purely  bred  and 
more  especially  when  intercrossed,  to  produce  offspring 
of  a  blue  poloiu',  with  the  same  characteristic  marks,  vary- 
ing in  the  same  manner,  as  in  Columba  livia  ?  If  we 
admit  that  these  races  have  all  descended  from  C.  livid, 
no  breeder  will  doubt  that  the  occasional  appearance  of 
blue  birds  thus  characterised  is  accounted  for  on  the  well- 
known  principle  of  "  throwing  back  "  or  reversion.  Why 
crossing  should  give  so  strong  a  tendency  to  reversion, 
we  do  not  with  certainty  know;  but  abundant  evidence 
of  this  fact  will  be  given  in  the  following  chapters.  It  is 
probable  that  I  might  have  bred  even  for  a  century  pure 
black  barbs,  spots,  nuns,  white  fantails,  trumpeters,  &c, 
without  obtaining  a  single  blue  or  barred  bird ;  yet  by 
crossing  these  breeds  I  reared  in  the  first  and  second  gen- 
eration, during  the  course  of  only  three  or  four  years,  a 
considerable  number  of  young  birds,  more  or  less  plainly 
coloured  blue,  and  with  most  of  the  characteristic  marks. 
When  black  and  white,  or  black  and  red  birds,  are  crossed, 
it  would  appear  that  a  slight  tendency  exists  in  both  pa- 
rents to  produce  blue  offspring,  and  that  this,  Avhen  com- 
bined, overpowers  the  separate  tendency  in  either  parent 
to  produce  black,  or  white,  or  red  offspring. 

If  we  reject  the  belief  that  all  the  races  of  the  pigeon 
are  the  modified  descendants  of  C.  livia,  and  suppose  that 
they  are  descended  from  several  aboriginal  stocks,  then 


246  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

we  must  choose  between  the  three  following  assumptions : 
firstly,  that  at  least  eight  or  nine  species  formerly  existed 
which  were  aboriginally  coloured  m  various  ways,  but 
have  since  varied  in  so  exactly  the  same  manner  as  to 
assume  the  colouring  of  G.  livid  ;  but  this  assumption 
throws  not  the  least  light  on  the  appearance  of  such  col- 
ours and  marks  when  the  races  are  crossed.  Or  secondly, 
we  may  assume  that  the  aboriginal  species  were  all  col- 
oured blue,  and  had  the  wing-bars  and  other  characteristic 
marks  of  0.  livid, — a  supposition  which  is  highly  im- 
probable, as  besides  this  one  species  no  existing  member 
of  the  Colurabidse  presents  these  combined  characters ; 
and  it  would  not  be  possible  to  find  any  other  instance  of 
several  species  identical  in  plumage,  yet  as  different  in 
important  points  of  structure  as  are  pouters,  fantails,  car- 
riers, tumblers,  &c.  Or  lastly,  we  may  assume  that  all 
the  races,  whether  descended  from  C  livia  or  from  several 
aboriginal  species,  although  they  have  been  bred  with  so 
much  care  and  are  so  highly  valued  by  finders,  have  all 
been  crossed  within  a  dozen  or  score  of  generations  with 
C.  livid,  and  have  thus  acquired  their  tendency  to  produce 
blue  birds  with  the  several  characteristic  marks.  I  have 
said  that  it  must  be  assumed  that  each  race  has  been  cross- 
ed with  C.  livid  within  a  dozen,  or,  at  the  utmost,  within 
a  score  of  generations ;  for  there  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  crossed  offspring  ever  revert  to  one  of  their  ances- 
tors when  removed  by  a  greater  number  of  generations. 
In  a  breed  which  has  been  crossed  only  once,  the  tendency 
to  reversion  will  naturally  become  less  and  less  in  the  suc- 
ceeding generations,  as  in  each  there  will  be  less  and  less 
of  the  blood  of  the  foreign  breed ;  but  when  there  has  been 
no  cross  with  a  distinct  breed,  and  there  is  a  tendency  in 
both  parents  to  revert  to  some  long-lost  character,  this 
tendency,  for  all  that  we  can  see  to  the  contrary,  may  be 
transmitted  undiminished  for  an  indefinite  number  of 
generations.      These  two  distinct  cases  of  reversion  are 


Chap.  vr.  THEIR    REVERSION    IN    COLOUR.  2-47 

often  confounded  together  by  those  "who  have  written  on 
inheritance. 

Considering,  on  the  one  hand,  the  improbability  of  the 
three  assumptions  which  have  just  been  discussed,  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  how  simply  the  facts  are  explained  on 
the  principle  of  reversion,  we  may  conclude  that  the  occa- 
sional appearance  in  all  the  races,  both  when  purely  bred 
and  more  especially  when  crossed,  of  blue  birds,  some- 
times chequered,  With  double  wing-bars,  with  white  or 
blue  croups,  Avith  a  bar  at  the  end  of  the  tail,  and  with  the 
outer  tail-feathers  edged  with  white,  affords  an  argument 
of  the  greatest  weight  in  favour  of  the  view  that  all  are 
descended  from  Columba  livia,  including  under  this  name 
the  three  or  four  wild  varieties  or  sub-species  before  enu- 
lrierated. 

To  sum  up  the  six  foregoing  arguments,  which  are 
opposed  to  the  belief  that  the  chief  domestic  races  are 
the  descendants  of  at  least  eight  or  nine  or  perhaps  a 
dozen  species  ;  for  the  crossing  of  any  less  number  would 
not  yield  the  characteristic  differences  between  the  seve- 
ral races.  Firstly,  the  improbability  that  so  many  spe- 
cies should  still  exist  somewhere,  but  be  unknown  to 
ornithologists,  or  that  they  should  have  become  within 
the  historical  period  extinct,  although  man  has  had 
so  little  influence  in  exterminating  the  wild  C.  livia. 
Secondly,  the  improbability  of  man  in  former  times 
having  thoroughly  domesticated  and  rendered  fertile 
under  confinement  so  many  species.  Thirdly,  these  sup- 
posed species  having  nowhere  become  feral.  Fourthly, 
the  extraordinary  fiict  that  man  should,  intentionally  or 
by  chance,  have  chosen  for  domestication  several  species, 
extremely  abnormal  in  character;  and  furthermore,  the 
points  of  structure  which  render  these  supposed  species 
so  abnormal  being  now  highly  variable.  Fifthly,  the 
fact  of  all  the  races,  though  differing  in  many  important 
points  of  structure,  producing  perfectly  fertile  mongrels ; 
whilst  all  the  hybrids  which  have  been  produced  between 


248  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  TI. 

even  closely  allied  species  in  the  pigeon-family  are  sterile. 
Sixthly,  the  remarkable  statements  just  given  on  the 
tendency  in  all  the  races,  both  when  purely  bred  and 
when  crossed,  to  revert  in  numerous  minute  details  of 
colouring  to  the  character  of  the  wild  rock-pigeon,  and 
to  vary  in  a  similar  manner.  To  these  arguments  may 
be  added  the  extreme  improbability  that  a  number  of 
species  formerly  existed,  which  differed  greatly  from  each 
other  in  some  few  points,  but  which  resembled  each  other 
as  closely  as  do  the  domestic  races  in  other  points  of 
structure,  in  voice,  and  in  all  their  habits  of  life.  When 
these  several  facts  and  arguments  are  fairly  taken  into 
consideration,  it  would  require  an  overwhelming  amount 
of  evidence  to  make  us  admit  that  the  chief  domestic 
races  are  descended  from  several  aboriginal  stocks ;  and 
of  such  evidence  there  is  absolutely  none. 

The  belief  that  the  chief  domestic  races  are  descended 
from  several  wild  stocks  no  doubt  has  arisen  from  the 
apparent  improbability  of  such  great  modifications  of 
structure  having  been  effected  since  man  first  domesti- 
cated the  rock-pigeon.  Nor  am  I  surprised  at  any  degree 
of  hesitation  in  admitting  their  common  origin :  formerly, 
when  I  went  into  my  aviaries  and  watched  such  birds  as 
pouters,  carriers,  barbs,  fantails,  and  short-faced  tumblers, 
&C,  I  could  not  persuade  myself  that  they  had  all 
descended  from  the  same  wild  stock,  and  that  man  had 
consequently  in  one  sense  created  these  remarkable  modi- 
fications. Therefore  I  have  argued  the  question  of  their 
origin  at  great,  and,  as  some  will  think,  superfluous 
length. 

Finally,  in  favour  of  the  belief  that  all  the  races  are 
descended  from  a  single  stock,  we  have  in  Columbia  livia 
a  still  existing  and  widely  distributed  species,  which  can 
be  and  has  been  domesticated  in  various  countries.  This 
species  agrees  in  most  points  of  structure  and  in  all  its 
habits  of  life,  as  well  as  occasionally  in  every  detail  of 
plumage,  with  the  several  domestic   races.     It  breeds 


Chap.  VI.  FORMATION"    OF    RACES.  249 

freely  with  them,  and  produces  fertile  offspring.  It 
varies  in  a  state  of  nature,30  and  still  more  so  when  semi- 
domesticated,  as  shown  by  comparing  the  Sierra  Leone 
pigeons  with  those  of  India,  or  with  those  which  appa- 
rently have  run  wild  in  Madeira.  It  has  undergone 
a  still  greater  amount  of  variation  in  the  case  of  the 
numerous  toy-pigeons,  which  no  one  supposes  to  be 
descended  from  distinct  species ;  yet  some  of  these  toy- 
pigeons  have  transmitted  their  character  truly  for  centu- 
ries. Why,  then,  should  we  hesitate  to  believe  in  that 
greater  amount  of  variation  which  is  necessary  for  the 
production  of  the  eleven  chief  races?  It  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  in  two  of  the  most  strongly-marked  races, 
namely,  carriers  and  short-faced  tumblers,  the  extreme 
forms  can  be  connected  with  the  parent-species  by  gradu- 
ated differences  not  greater  than  those  which  may  be 
observed  between  the  dovecot-pigeons  inhabiting  differ- 
ent couuti'ies,  or  between  the  various  kinds  of  toy- 
pigeons, — gradations  which  must  certainly  be  attributed 
to  variation. 

That  circumstances  have  been  eminently  favourable  for 
the  modification  of  the  pigeon  through  variation  and 
selection  will  now  be  shown.  The  earliest  record,  as  has 
been  pointed  out  to  me  by  Professor  Lepsius,  of  pigeons 
in  a  domesticated  condition,  occurs  in  the  fifth  Egyptian 
dynasty,  about  3000  b.c.  ;31  but  Mr.  Birch,  of  the  British 
Museum,  informs  me  that  the  pigeon  appears  in  a  bill  of 
fare  in  the  previous  dynasty.  Domestic  pigeons  are 
mentioned  in  Genesis,  Leviticus,  and  Isaiah.32      In  the 


30  It  deserves  notice,  as  bearing  on  the  32  The  '  Dovecote,'  by  the  Rev.  E.  S. 

general  subject  of  variation,  that  not  only  Dixon,  1851,  pp.  11-13.     Adolphe  Pictet 

C.  liria  presents  several  wild  forms,  re-  (in  his  '  Les  Origines  Indo-Europeennes,' 

garded  by  some  naturalists   as    species  1S59,  p.  399)  states  that  there  are  in  the 

and  by  others  as  sub-species  or  as  mere  ancient  Sanscrit  language  between   25 

varieties,  but  that  the  species  of  several  and  30  names  for  the  pigeon,  and  other 

allied  genera  are  in  the  same  predica-  15  or  16  Persian  names ;  none. of  these 

ment.    This  is  the  case,  as  Mr.  Blyth  are  common  to  the  European  languages. 

has  remarked  to  me,  with  Treron,  Palum-  This  fact  indicates  the  antiquity  of  the 

bus,  and  Turtur.  domestication  in  the  East  of  the  pigeon. 

»» 'Denkmaler,'  Abth.  ii.  Bl.  70. 
11* 


250  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

time  of  the  Romans,  as  we  hear  from  Pliny,33  immense 
prices  were  given  for  pigeons ;  "  nay,  they  are  come  to 
this  pass,  that  they  can  reckon  up  their  pedigree  and 
race."  In  India,  about  the  year  1600,  pigeons  were  much 
valued  by  Akber  Khan :  20,000  birds  were  carried  about 
with  the  court,  and  the  merchants  brought  valuable 
collections.  "  The  monarchs  of  Iran  and  Turan  sent  him 
some  very  rare  breeds.  His  Majesty,"  says  the  courtly 
historian,  "by  crossing  the  breeds,  which  method  was 
never  practised  before,  has  improved  them  astonish- 
ingly." 34  Akber  Khan  possessed  seventeen  distinct  kinds, 
eight  of  which  were  valuable  for  beauty  alone.  At  about 
this  same  pei-iod  of  1600  the  Dutch,  according  to  Aldro- 
vandi,  were  as  eager  about  pigeons  as  the  Romans  had 
formerly  been.  The  breeds  which  were  kept  during  the 
fifteenth  century  in  Europe  and  in  India  apparently  dif- 
fered from  each  other.  Tavernier,  in  his  Travels  in  1677, 
speaks,  as  does  Chardin  in  1735,  of  the  vast  number  of 
pigeon-houses  in  Persia ;  and  the  former  remarks  that,  as 
Christians  were  not  permitted  to  keep  pigeons,  some  of 
the  vulgar  actually  turned  Mahometans  for  this  sole 
purpose.  The  Emperor  of  Morocco  had  his  favourite 
keeper  of  pigeons,  as  is  mentioned  in  Moore's  treatise, 
published  1 737.  In  England,  from  the  time  of  Willughby 
in  1678  to  the  present  day,  as  well  as  in  Germany  and  in 
France,  numerous  treatises  have  been  published  on  the 
pigeon.  In  India,  about  a  hundred  years  ago,  a  Persian 
treatise  was  written  ;  and  the  writer  thought  it  no  light 
affair,  for  he  begins  with  a  solemn  invocation,  "  in  the 
name  of  God,  the  gracious  and  merciful."  Many  large 
towns,  in  Europe  and  the  United  States,  now  have  their 
societies  of  devoted  pigeon-fanciers :  at  present  there  are 
three  such  societies  in  London.  In  India,  as  I  hear  from 
Mr.  Blyth,  the  inhabitants  of  Delhi  and  of  some  other 


83  English  translation,  1601,  book  x.  34  '  Ayeen  Akbery,'  translated  by  F. 

ch.  xxxvii.  Gladvin,  4to.  edit.,  vol.  1.  p.  270. 


Chap.  vi.  FORMATION    OF    RACES.  251 

great  cities  are  eager  fanciers.  Mr.  Layard  informs  me 
that  most  of  the  known  breeds  are  kept  in  Ceylon.  In 
China,  according  to  Mr.  Swinhoe  of  Amoy,  and  Dr. 
Lockhart  of  Shangai,  carriers,  fantails,  tumblers,  and 
other  varieties  ai*e  reared  with  care,  especially  by  the 
bonzes  or  priests.  The  Chinese  fasten  a  kind  of  whistle 
to  the  tail-feathers  of  their  pigeons,  and  as  the  flock 
wheels  through  the  air  they  produce  a  sweet  sound.  In 
Egypt  the  late  Abbas  Pacha  was  a  great  fancier  of 
fantails.  Many  pigeons  are  kept  at  Cairo  and  Constanti- 
nople, and  these  have  lately  been  imported  by  native 
merchants,  as  I  hear  from  Sir  W.  Elliot,  into  Southern 
India,  and  sold  at  high  prices. 

The  foregoing  statements  show  in  how  many  countries, 
and  during  how  long  a  period,  many  men  have  been  pas- 
sionately devoted  to  the  breeding  of  pigeons.  Hear  how 
an  enthusiastic  fancier  at  the  present  day  writes :  "  If  it 
were  possible  for  noblemen  and  gentlemen  to  know  the 
amazing  amount  of  solace  and  pleasure  derived  from 
Almond  Tumblers,  when  they  begin  to  understand  their 
properties,  I  should  think  that  scarce  any  nobleman  or 
gentleman  would  be  without  their  aviaries  of  Almond 
Tumblers."  3B  The  pleasure  thus  taken  is  of  paramount 
importance,  as  it  leads  amateurs  carefully  to  note  and 
preserve  each  slight  deviation  of  structure  which  strikes 
their  fancy.  Pigeons  are  often  closely  confined  during 
their  whole  lives ;  they  do  not  partake  of  their  naturally 
varied  diet ;  they  have  often  been  transported  from  one 
climate  to  another ;  and  all  these  changes  in  their  condi- 
tions of  life  would  be  likely  to  cause  variability.  Pigeons 
have  been  domesticated  for  nearly  5000  years,  and  have 
been  kept  in  many  places,  so  that  the  numbers  reared 
under  domestication  must  have  been  enormous ;  and  this 
is  another  circumstance  of  high  importance,  for  it  obvi- 
ously favours  the  chance  of  rare  modifications  of  structure 


**  J.  M.  Eaton,  '  Treatise  on  the  Almond  Tumbler,'  1&51  ;  Preface,  g.  vl. 


252  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

occasionally  appearing.  Slight  variations  of  all  kinds 
would  almost  certainly  be  observed,  and,  if  valued,  would, 
owing  to  the  following  circumstances,  be  preserved  and 
propagated  with  unusual  facility.  Pigeons,  differently 
from  any  other  domesticated  animal,  can  easily  be  mated 
for  life,  and,  though  kept  with  other  pigeons,  they  rarely 
prove  unfaithful  to  each  other.  Even  when  the  male 
does  break  his  marriage  vow,  he  does  not  permanently 
desert  his  mate.  I  have  bred  in  the  same  aviaries  many 
pigeons  of  different  kinds,  and  never  reared  a  single  bird 
of  an  impure  strain.  Hence  a  fancier  can  with  the  great- 
est ease  select  and  match  his  birds.  He  will  also  soon 
see  the  good  results  of  his  care ;  for  pigeons  breed  with 
extraordinary  rapidity.  He  may  freely  reject  inferior 
birds,  as  they  serve  at  an  early  age  as  excellent  food.  To 
sum  up,  pigeons  are  easily  kept,  paired,  and  selected ;  vast 
numbers  have  been  reared ;  great  zeal  in  breeding  them 
has  been  shown  by  many  men  in  various  countries ;  and 
this  would  lead  to  their  close  discrimination,  and  to  a 
sti-ong  desire  to  exhibit  some  novelty,  or  to  surpass  other 
fanciers  in  the  excellence  of  already  established  breeds. 

History  of  the  principal  Races  of  the  Pigeon.** 

Before  discussing  the  means  and  steps  by  which  the  chief  races 
have  been  formed,  it  will  be  advisable  to  give  some  historical  details, 
for  more  is  known  of  the  history  of  the  pigeon,  little  though  this  be, 
than  of  any  other  domesticated  animal.  Some  of  the  cases  are  in- 
teresting as  proving  how  long  domestic  varieties  may  be  propagated 
with  exactly  the  same  or  nearly  the  same  characters  ;  and  other  cases 
are  still  more  interesting  as  showing  how  slowly  but  steadily  races 
have  been  greatly  modified  during  successive  generations.  In  the 
last  chapter  I  stated  that  Trumpeters  and  Laughers,  both  so  remark- 
able for  their  voices,  seem  to  have  been  perfectly  characterized  in 
1735 ;  and  Laughers  were  apparently  known  in  India  before  the 
year  1600.  Spots  in  1676,  and  Nuns  in  the  time  of  Aldrovandi,  be- 
fore 1600,  were  coloured  exactly  as  they  now  are.     Common  Tum- 


••  As  in  the  following   discussion  I       state  that  this  chapter  was  completed  in 
often  speak  of  the  present  time,  I  should       the  year  1853. 


Chap.  vi.    HISTORY    OF    THE    PRINCIPAL    RACES.         253 

biers  and  Ground  Tumblers  exhibited  in  India,  before  the  year  1600, 
tlic  same  extraordinary  peculiarities  of  flight  as  at  the  present  day, 
for  they  are  well  described  in  the  '  Ayeen  Akbery.'  These  breeds 
may  all  have  existed  for  a  much  longer  period  ;  we  know  only  that 
they  were  perfectly  characterized  at  the  dates  above  given.  The 
a  r,  rage  length  of  life  of  the  domestic  pigeon  is  probably  about  five  or 
six  years  ;  if  so,  some  of  these  races  have  retained  their  character 
perfectly  for  at  least  forty  or  fifty  generations. 

Pouters. — These  birds,  as  far  as  a  very  short  description  serves  for 
comparison,  appear  to  have  been  well  characterized  in  Aldnovandi's 
time,"  before  the  year  1600.  Length  of  body  and  length  of  leg  are 
at  the  present  time  the  two  chief  points  of  excellence.  In  1735 
Moore  said  (see  Mr.  J.  M.  Eaton's  edition) — and  Moore  was  a  first- 
rate  fancier — that  he  once  saw  a  bird  with  a  body  20  inches  in  length, 
"  though  17  or  18  inches  is  reckoned  a  very  good  length  ;"  and  he 
has  seen  the  legs  very  nearly  7  inches  in  length,  yet  a  leg  Qi  or  6| 
long  "  must  be  allowed  to  be  a  very  good  one."  Mr.  Bult,  the  most 
successful  breeder  of  Pouters  in  the  world,  informs  me  that  at  pre- 
sent (1858)  the  standard  length  of  the  body  is  not  less  than  18  inches  ; 
but  he  has  measured  one  bird  19  inches  in  length,  and  has  heard  of 
20  and  22  inches,  but  doubts  the  truth  of  these  latter  statements. 
The  standard  length  of  the  leg  is  now  7  inches,  but  Mr.  Bult  has 
recently  measured  two  of  his  own  birds  with  legs  7+  long.  So  that 
in  the  123  years  which  have  elapsed  since  1735  there  has  been  hardly 
any  increase  in  the  standard  length  of  the  body ;  17  or  18  inches 
was  formerly  reckoned  a  very  good  length,  and  now  18  inches  is  the 
minimum  standard ;  but  the  length  of  leg  seems  to  have  increased, 
as  Moore  never  saw  one  quite  7  inches  long  ;  now  the  standard  is  7, 
and  two  of  Mr.  Bult's  birds  measured  7-J-  inches  in  length.  The  ex- 
tremely slight  improvement  in  Pouters,,  except  in  the  length  of  the 
leg,  during  the  last  123  years,  may  be  partly  accounted  for  by  the 
neglect  which  they  suffered,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Bult,  until 
within  the  last  20  or  30  years.  About  1765  38  there  was  a  change  of 
fashion,  stouter  and  more  feathered  legs  being  preferred  to  thin  and 
nearly  naked  legs. 

Pintails. — The  first  notice  of  the  existence  of  this  breed  is  in  In- 
dia, before  the  year  1600,  as  given  in  the  '  Ayeen  Akbery  f S9  at  this 
date,  judging  from  Aldrovandi,  the  breed  was  unknown  in  Europe. 
In  1677  VVillughby  speaks  of  a  Fantail  with  26  tail-feathers  ;  in 


>7  '  Ornithologie,'  1600,  vol.  ii.  p.  360.  3a  Mr.   Blyth  has  given  a  translation 

*8  '  A  Treatise  on  Domestic  Pigeons,'  of  part  of  the  'Ayeen  Akbery'  in  '  An- 

dedicated  to  Mr.  Mayor,  1765.    Preface,  nals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,'  vol.   xix., 

P.  rf*  1S47,  p.  104. 


254  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

1735  Moore  saw  one  with  36  feathers  j  and  in  1824  MM.  Boitard  and 
Corbie  assert  that  in  France  birds  can  easily  be  found  with  42  tail- 
feathers.  In  England,  the  number  of  the  tail-feathers  is  not  at 
present  so  much  regarded  as  their  upward  direction  and  expansion. 
The  general  carriage  of  the  bird  is  likewise  now  much  regarded. 
The  old  descriptions  do  not  suffice  to  show  whether  in  these  latter 
respects  there  has  been  much  improvement ;  but  if  fantails  had 
formerly  existed  with  their  heads  and  tails  touching  each  other,  as 
at  the  present  time,  the  fact  would  almost  certainly  have  been 
noticed.  The  Fantails  which  are  now  found  in  India  probably  show 
the  state  of  the  race,  as  far  as  carriage  is  concerned,  at  the  date  of 
their  introduction  into  Europe ;  and  some,  said  to  have  been  brought 
from  Calcutta,  which  I  kept  alive,  were  in  a  marked  manner  in- 
ferior to  our  exhibition  birds.  The  Java  FantaiL  shows  the  same 
difference  in  carriage ;  and  although  Mr.  Swinhoe  has  counted  18 
and  24  tail-feathers  in  Ins  birds,  a  first-rate  specimen  sent  to  me 
had  only  14  tail-feathers. 

Jacobins. — This  breed  existed  before  1600,  but  the  hood,  judging 
from  the  figure  given  by  Aldrovandi,  did  not  enclose  the  head  nearly 
so  perfectly  as  at  present :  nor  was  the  head  then  white  ;  nor  were 
the  wings  and  tail  so  long,  but  this  last  character  might  have  been 
overlooked  by  the  rude  artist.  In  Moore's  time,  in  1 735,  the  Jacobin 
was  considered  the  smallest  kind  of  pigeon,  and  the  bill  is  said  to 
be  very  short.  Hence  either  the  Jacobin,  or  the  other  kinds  with 
which  it  was  then  compared,  must  have  been  since  considerably 
modified ;  for  Moore's  description  (and  it  must  be  remembered  that 
he  was  a  first-rate  judge)  is  clearly  not  applicable,  as  far  as  size  of 
body  and  length  of  beak  are  concerned,  to  our  present  Jacobins. 
In  1795,  judging  from  Bechstein,  the  breed  had  assumed  its  present 
character. 

Turbits. — It  has  generally  been  supposed  by  the  older  writers  on 
pigeons,  that  the  Turbit  is  the  Cortbeck  of  Aldrovandi ;  but  if  this 
be  the  case,  it  is  an  extraordinary  fact  that  the  characteristic  frill 
should  not  have  been  noticed.  The  beak,  moreover,  of  the  Cortbeck 
is  described  as  closely  resembling  that  of  the  Jacobin,  which  shows 
a  change  in  the  one  or  the  other  race.  The  Turbit,  with  its 
characteristic  frill  and  bearing  its  present  name,  is  described  by 
Willughby  in  1677  ;  and  the  bill  is  said  to  be  like  that  of  the  bull- 
finch,—a  good  comparison,  but  now  more  strictly  applicable  to  the 
beak  of  the  Barb.  The  sub-breed  called  the  Owl  was  well  known  in 
Moore's  time,  in  1735. 

Tumblers. — Common  Tumblers,  as  well  as  Ground  Tumblers, 
perfect'as  far  as  tumbling  is  concerned,  existed  in  India  before  the 
year  1600 ;  and  at  this  period  diversified  modes  of  flight,  such  as 


Chap.  VI.     HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  RACES.  255 

flying  at  night,  the  ascent  to  a  great  height,  an»fcmanner  of  descent, 
seem  to  have  been  much  attended  to,  as  at  the  present  time,  in  India. 
Belon 40  in  1555  saw  in  Paphlagonia  what  he  describes  as  "  a  very- 
new  thing,  viz.  pigeons  which  flew  so  high  in  the  air  that  they  were 
lost  to  view,  but  returned  to  their  pigeon-house  without  separating." 
This  manner  of  flight  is  characteristic  of  our  present  Tumblers,  but 
it  is  clear  that  Belon  would  have  mentioned  the  act  of  tumbling  if 
the  pigeons  described  by  him  had  tumbled.  Tumblers  were  not 
known  in  Europe  in  1600,  as  they  are  not  mentioned  by  Aldrovandi, 
who  discusses  the  flight  of  pigeons.  They  are  briefly  alluded  to  by 
Willughby,  in  1687,  as  small  pigeons  "which  show  like  footballs  in 
the  air."  The  short-faced  race  did  not  exist  at  this  period,  as  Wil- 
lughby could  not  have  overlooked  birds  so  remarkable  for  their 
small  size  and  short  beaks.  We  can  even  trace  some  of  the  steps 
by  which  this  race  has  been  produced.  Moore  in  1735  enumerates 
correctly  the  chief  points  of  excellence,  but  does  not  give  any  de- 
scription of  the  several  sub-breeds  ;  and  from  this  fact  Mr.  Eaton  in- 
fers 41  that  the  short-faced  Tumbler  had  not  then  come  to  full  per- 
fection. Moore  even  speaks  of  the  Jacobin  as  being  the  smallest 
pigeon.  Thirty  years  afterwards,  in  1765,  in  the  Treatise  dedicated 
to  Mayor,  short-faced  Almond  Tumblers  are  fully  described,  but  the 
author,  an  excellent  fancier,  expressly  states  in  his  Preface  (p.  xiv.) 
that,  "  from  great  care  and  expense  in  breeding  them,  they  have 
arrived  to  so  great  perfection  and  are  so  different  from  what  they 
were  20  or  30  years  past,  that  an  old  fancier  would  have  condemned 
them  for  no  other  reason  than  because  they  are  not  like  what  used 
to  be  thought  good  when  he  was  in  the  fancy  before."  Hence  it 
would  appear  that  there  was  a  rather  sudden  change  in  the  charac- 
ter of  the  short-faced  Tumbler  at  about  this  period  ;  and  there  is 
reason  to  suspect  that  a  dwarfed  and  half-monstrous  bird,  the  parent- 
form  of  the  several  short -faced  sub-breeds,  then  appeared.  I  suspect 
this  because  short-faced  Tumblers  are  born  with  their  beaks  (ascer- 
tained by  careful  measurement)  as  short,  proportionally  with  the 
size  of  their  bodies,  as  in  the  adult  bird  ;  and  in  this  respect  they 
differ  greatly  from  all  other  breeds,  which  slowly  acquire  during 
growth  their  various  characteristic  qualities. 

Since  the  year  1765  there  has  been  some  change  in  one  of  the 
chief  characters  of  the  short-faced  Tumbler,  namely,  in  the  length 
of  the  beak.  Fanciers  measure  the  "  head  and  beak  "  from  the  tip 
of  the  beak  to  the  front  corner  of  the  eyeball.     About  the  year  1765 


40  '  L'Hist.  de  la  Nature  des  Oiseaux,'  p.  314. 

41  '  Treatise  on  Pigeons,'  18o2,  p.  64. 


256  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

a  "  head  and  beak  'jfwas  considered  good,42  which,  measured  in  the 
usual  manner,  was  -J  of  an  inch  in  length  ;  now  it  ought  not  to  ex- 
ceed f  of  an  inch  ;  "  it  is  however  possible,"  as  Mr.  Eaton  candidly 
confesses,  "  for  a  bird  to  be  considered  as  pleasant  or  neat  even  at  | 
of  an  inch,  but  exceeding  that  length  it  must  be  looked  upon  as  un- 
worthy of  attention."  Mr.  Eaton  states  that  he  has  never  seen  in 
the  course  of  his  life  more  than  two  or  three  birds  with  the  "  head 
and  beak  "  not  exceeding  half  an  inch  in  length ;  "  still  I  believe  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years  that  the  head  and  beak  will  be  shortened, 
and  that  half-inch  birds  will  not  be  considered  so  great  a  curiosity 
as  at  the  present  time."  That  Mr.  Eaton's  opinion  deserves  atten- 
tion cannot  be  doubted,  considering  his  success  in  winning  prizes 
at  our  exhibitions.  Finally  in  regard  to  the  Tumbler  it  may  be  con- 
cluded from  the  facts  above  given  that  it  was  originally  introduced 
into  Europe,  probably  first  into  England,  from  the  East ;  and  that  it 
then  resembled  our  common  English  Tumbler,  or  more  probably  the 
Persian  or  Indian  Tumbler,  with  a  beak  only  just  perceptibly  shorter 
than  that  of  the  common  dovecot-pigeon.  With  respect  to  the 
short-faced  Tumbler,  which  is  not  known  to  exist  in  the  East,  there 
can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  the  whole  wonderful  change  in  the  size 
of  the  head,  beak,  body,  and  feet,  and  in  general  carriage,  has  been 
produced  during  the  last  two  centuries  by  continued  selection,  aided 
probably  by  the  birth  of  a  semi-monstrous  bird  somewhere  about  the 
year  1750. 

Runts. — Of  their  history  little  can  be  said.  In  the  time  of  Pliny 
the  pigeons  of  Campania  were  the  largest  known ;  and  from  this 
fact  alone  some  authors  assert  that  they  were  Runts.  In  Aldrovandi's 
time,  in  1600,  two  sub-breeds  existed  ;  but  one  of  them,  the  short- 
beaked,  is  now  extinct  in  Europe. 

Barbs. — Notwithstanding  statements  to  the  contrary,  it  seems  to 
me  impossible  to  recognise  the  barb  in  Aldrovandi's  descriptions  and 
figures  ;  four  breeds,  however  existed  in  the  year  1600  which  were 
evidently  allied  both  to  Barbs  and  Carriers.  To  show  how  difficult 
it  is  to  recognise  some  of  the  breeds  described  by  Aldrovandi,  I  will 
give  the  different  opinions  in  regard  to  the  above  four  kinds,  named 
by  him  C.  Lidica,  Cretensis,  Outturosa,  and  Persica.  Willughby 
thought  that  the  Golumba  Indica  was  a  Turbit,  but  the  eminent 
fancier  Mr.  Brent  believes  that  it  was  an  inferior  Barb  :  C.  Cretensis, 
with  a  short  beak  and  a  swelling  on  the  upper  mandible,  cannot  be 
recognised:  C.  (falsely  called)  gutturosa,  which  from  its  rostrum, 
breve,  crassum,  et  tuberosum  seems  to  me  to  come  nearest  to  the 


42  J.   M.   Eaton's    '  Treatise    on    the       Tumbler,'  1851.     Compare  p.  v.  of  Pre- 
Breeding  and  Managing  of  the  Almond       face,  p.  9,  and  p.  52. 


Chap.  VI.     HISTORY  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  RACES.  257 

Barb,  Mr.  Brent  believes  to  be  a  Carrier ;  and  lastly,  the  C.  Pcndca 
et  Turcica,  Mr.'  Brent  thinks,  and  I  quite  concur  with  him;  was  a 
short -beaked  Carrier  with  very  little  wattle.  In  1687  the  Barb  was 
known  in  England,  and  Willnghby  describes  the  beak  as  like  that 
of  the  Turbit ;  but  it  is  not  credible  that  his  Barb  should  have  had 
a  beak  like  that  of  our  present  birds,  for  so  accurate  an  observer 
could  not  have  overlooked  its  great  breadth. 

English  Currier. — We  may  look  in  vain  in  Aldrovandi's  work 
for  any  bird  resembling  our  prize  Carriers  ;  the  C.  Persica  et  Turcica 
of  this  author  comes  the  nearest,  but  is  said  to  have  had  a  short 
thick  beak  ;  therefore  it  must  have  approached  in  character  a  Barb, 
and  have  differed  greatly  from  our  Carriers.  In  Willughby's  time, 
in  1677,  we  can  clearly  recognise  the  Carrier,  but  he  adds,  "  the  bill 
is  not  short,  but  of  a  moderate  length,"  a  description  which  no  one 
would  apply  to  our  present  Carriers,  so  conspicuous  for  the  extra- 
ordinary length  of  their  beaks.  The  old  names  given  in  Europe 
to  the  Carrier,  and  the  several  names  now  in  use  in  India,  indicate 
that  Carriers  originally  came  from  Persia  ;  and  Willughby's  de- 
scription would  perfectly  apply  to  the  Bussorah  Carrier  as  it  now 
exists  in  Madras.  In  later  times  we  can  partially  trace  the  progress 
of  change  in  our  English  Carriers  :  Moore  in  1735  says  "  an  inch 
and  a  half  is  reckoned  a  long  beak,  though  there  are  very  good 
Carriers  that  are  found  not  to  exceed  an  inch  and  a  quarter." 
These  birds  must  have  resembled,  or  perhaps  been  a  little  superior 
to,  the  Carriers  previously  described,  which  are  now  found  in 
Persia.  In  England  at  the  present  day  "  there  are,"  as  Mr.  Eaton48 
states-,  "  beaks  that  would  measure  (from  edge  of  eye  to  tip  of  beak) 
one  inch  and  three-quarters,  and  some  few  even  two  inches  in 
length." 

From  these  historical  details  we  see  that  nearly  all  the 
chief  domestic  races  existed  before  the  year  1600.  Some 
remarkable  only  for  colour  appear  to  have  been  identical 
with  our  present  breeds,  some  were  nearly  the  same, 
some  considerably  different,  and  some  have  since  become 
extinct.  Several  breeds,  such  as  Fiunikins  and  Turners, 
the  swallow-tailed  pigeon  of  Bechstein  and  the  Carme- 
lite, seem  both  to  have  originated  and  to  have  disap- 
peared within  this  same  period.  Any  one  now  visiting 
a  well  stocked  English  aviary  would  certainly  pick  out 


«  '  Treatise  on  Pigeons,'  1S52,  p.  41. 


258  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VL 

as  the  most  distinct  kinds,  the  massive  Runt,  the  Carrier 
with  its  wonderfully  elongated  beak  and  great  wattles, 
the  Barb  with  its  short  broad  beak  and  eye-wattles,  the 
short-faced  Tumbler  with  its  small  conical  beak,  the 
Pouter  with  its  great  crop,  long  legs  and  body,  the  Fan- 
tail  with  its  upraised,  widely-expanded,  well-feathered 
tail,  the  Tux-bit  with  its  frill  and  short  blunt  beak,  and 
the  Jacobin  with  its  hood.  Now,  if  this  same  person 
could  have  viewed  the  pigeons  kept  before  1600  by  Akber 
Khan  in  India  and  by  Aldrovandi  in  Europe,  he  would 
have  seen  the  Jacobin  with  a  less  perfect  hood  ;  the  Tux-- 
bit  apparently  without  its  frill ;  the  Pouter  with  shorter 
legs,  and  in  every  way  less  x-emarkable — that  is,  if  Aldro- 
vandi's  Pouter  x-esembled  the  old  German  kind  ;  the  Fan- 
tail  would  have  been  far  less  singular  in  appearance,  and 
would  have  had  much  fewer  feathex-s  in  its  tail ;  he  woxxld 
have  seen  excellent  flying  Txxmblex-s,  but  he  woxxld  in 
vain  have  looked  for  the  nxarvellous  shox-t-faced  breeds  ; 
he  would  have  seen  birds  allied  to  barbs,  but  it  is  ex- 
tremely doubtful  whether  he  would  have  met  with  our 
actual  Barbs  ;  and  lastly,  he  woxxld  have  found  Carriers 
with  beaks  and  wattle  incomparably  less  developed  thaxi 
in  our  English  Cax-riex-s.  He  might  have  classed  most  of 
the  breeds  in  the  same  groxxps  as  at  present ;  but  the 
differences  between  the  groxxps  wex-e  then  far  less  strong- 
ly px-onounced  than  at  present.  In  short,  the  several 
bx-eeds  had  at  this  eax*ly  period  not  divex*ged  in  so  gx-eat 
a  degree  from  their  aboriginal  common  parent,  the  wild 
rock-pigeon. 

Manner  of  Formation  of  the  chief  Maces. 

We  will  now  consider  more  closely  the  probable  steps 
by  which  the  chief  races  have  been  formed.  As  long  as 
pigeons  are  kept  semi-domesticated  in  dovecots  in  their 
native  country,  without  any  care  in  selecting  and  match- 
ing them,  they  are  liable  to  little  more  variation  than  the 


Chap.  VI.  FORMATION    OF    CHIEF    RACES.  259 

wild  C.  livid,  namely,  in  the  wings  becoming  chequered 
with  black,  in  the  croup  being  blue  or  white,  and  in  the 
size  of  the  body.  "When,  however,  dovecot-pigeons  are 
transported  into  diversified  countries,  such  as  Sierra 
Leone,  the  Malay  archipelago,  and  Madeira  (where  the 
Wild  C.  Uvia  is  not  known  to  exist),  they  are  exposed  to 
new  conditions  of  life ;  and  apparently  in  consequence 
they  vary  in  a  somewhat  greater  degree.  When  closely 
confined,  either  for  the  pleasure  of  watching  them,  or  to 
prevent  their  straying,  they  must  be  exposed,  even  under 
their  native  climate,  to  considerably  different  conditions  ; 
for  they  cannot  obtain  their  natural  diversity  of  .food  ; 
and,  what  is  probably  more  important,  they  are  abun- 
dantly fed,  whilst  debarred  from  taking  much  exercise. 
Under  these  circumstances  we  might  expect  to  find,  from 
the  analogy  of  all  other  domesticated  animals,  a  greater 
amount  of  individual  variability  than  with  the  wild 
pigeon;  and  this  is  the  case.  The  want  o  exercise  ap- 
parently tends  to  reduce  the  size  of  the  feet  and  organs 
of  flight ;  and  then,  from  the  law  of  correlation  of 
growth,  the  beak  apparently  becomes  affected.  From 
what  we  now  see  occasionally  taking  place  in  our  aviaries, 
we  may  conclude  that  sudden  variations  or  sports,  such 
as  the  appearance  of  a  crest  of  feathers  on  the  head,  of 
feathered  feet,  of  a  new  shade  of  colour,  of  an  additional 
feather  in  the  tail  or  wing,  would  occur  at-  rare  intervals 
during  the  many  centuries  which  have  elapsed  since  the 
pigeon  was  first  domesticated.  At  the  present  day  such 
"  sports  "  are  generally  rejected  as  blemishes  ;  and  there 
is  so  much  mystery  in  the  breeding  of  pigeons  that,  if 
a  valuable  sport  did  occur,  its  history  would  often  be 
concealed.  Before  the  last  hundred  and  fifty  years,  there 
is  hardly  a  chance  of  the  history  of  any  such  sport  hav- 
ing been  recorded.  But  it  by  no  means  follows  from 
this  that  such  sports  in  former  times,  when  the  pigeon 
had  undergone  much  less  variation,  would  have  been  re- 
jected.    We  are  profoundly  ignorant  of  the  cause  of 


260  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

each  sudden  and  apparently  spontaneous  variation,  as 
well  as  of  the  infinitely  numerous  shades  of  difference 
between  the  birds  of  the  same  family.  But  in  a  future 
chapter  we  shall  see  that  all  such  variations  appear  to  be 
the  indirect  result  of  changes  of  some  kind  in  the  con- 
ditions of  life. 

Hence,  after  a  long  course  of  domestication,  we  might 
expect  to  see  in  the  pigeon  much  individual  variability, 
and  occasional  sudden  variations,  as  well  as  slight  modi- 
fications from  the  lessened  use  of  certain  parts,  together 
with  the  effects  of  correlation  of  growth.  But  without 
selection  all  this  would  produce  only  a  trifling  or  no  re- 
sult ;  for  without  such  aid  differences  of  all  kinds'  would, 
from  the  two  following  causes,  soon  disappear.  In  a 
healthy  and  vigorous  lot  of  pigeons  many  more  young 
birds  are  killed  for  food  or-  die  than  are  reared  to  matu- 
rity ;  so  that  an  individual  having  any  peculiar  character, 
if  not  selected,  would  run  a  good  chance,  of  being  destroy- 
ed, and  if  not  destroyed,  the  peculiarity  in  question  would 
almost  certainly  be  obliterated  by  free  intercrossing.  It 
might,  however,  occasionally  happen  that  the  same  varia- 
tion repeatedly  occurred,  owing  to  the  action  of  peculiar 
and  uniform  conditions  of  life,  and  in  this  case  it  would  pre- 
vail  independently  of  selection.  But  when  selection  is 
brought  into  play  all  is  changed  ;  for  this  is  the  foundation- 
stone  in  the  formation  of  new  races  ;  and  with  the  pigeon, 
circumstances,  as  we  have  already  seen,  are  eminently  fa- 
vourable for  selection.  When  a  bird  presenting  some 
conspicuous  variation  has  been  preserved,  and  its  offspring 
have  been  selected,  carefully  matched,  *and  again  propa- 
gated, and  so  onwards  during  successive  generations,  the 
principle  is  so  obvious  that  nothing  more  need  be  said 
about  it.  This  may  be  called  methodical  selection,  for 
the  breeder  has  a  distinct  object  in  view,  namely,  to  pre- 
serve some  character  which  has  actually  appeared  ;  or  to 
create  some  improvement  already  pictured  in  his  mind. 

Another  form  of  selection  has  hardly  been  noticed  by 


Chap.  VI.  FORMATION    OF    CHIEF    RACES.  261 

t 
those  authors  who  have  discussed  this  subject,  but  is  even 
more  important.  This  form  may  be  called  unconscious 
selection,  for  the  breeder  selects  his  birds  unconsciously, 
Unintentionally,  and  without  method,  yet  he  surely  though 
slowly  produces  a  great  result.  I  refer  to  the  effects  which 
follow  from  each  fancier  at  first  procuring  and  afterwards 
rearing  as  good  birds  as  he  can,  according  to  his  skill, 
and  according  to  the  standard  of  excellence  at  each  suc- 
cessive period.  He  does  not  wish  permanently  to  modify 
the  breed;  he  does  not  look  to  the  distant  future,  or 
speculate  on  the  final  result  of  the  slow  accumulation  dur- 
ing many  generations  of  successive  slight  changes:  he  is 
content  if  he  possesses  a  good  stock,  and  more  than  con- 
tent if  he  can  beat  his  rivals.  The  fancier  in  the  time  of 
Aldrovandi,  when  in  the  year  1600  he  admired  his  own 
jacobins,  pouters,  or  carriers,  never  reflected  what  their 
descendants  in  the  year  1860  would  become;  he  would 
have  been  astonished  could  he  have  seen  our  jacobins,  our 
improved  English  carriers,  and  our  pouters;  he  would 
probably  have  denied  that  they  were  the  descendants  of 
his  own  once  admired  stock,  and  he  would  perhaps  not 
have  valued  them,  for  no  other  reason,  as  was  written  in 
1765,  "than  because  they  were  not  like  what  used  to  be 
thought  good  when  he  was  in  the  fancy."  No  one  will 
attribute  the  lengthened  beak  of  the  carrier,  the  shorten- 
ed beak  of  the  short-faced  tumbler,  the  lengthened  leg 
of  the  pouter,  the  more  perfectly-enclosed  hood  of  the 
jacobin,  &c, — changes  effected  since  the  time  of  Aldro- 
vandi, or  even  since  a  much  later  period, — to  the  direct 
and  immediate  action  of  the  conditions  of  life.  For  these 
several  races  have  been  modified  in  various  and  even  in 
directly  opposite  wrays,  though  kept  under  the  same  cli- 
mate and  treated  in  all  respects  in  as  nearly  uniform  a 
manner  as  possible.  Each  slight  change  in  the  length  or 
shortness  of  the  beak,  in  the  length  of  leg,  &c,  has  no 
doubt  been  indirectly  and  remotely  caused  by  some  change 
in  the  conditions  to  which  the  bird  has  been  subjected, 


262  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

but  we  must  attribute  the  final  result,  as  is  manifest  in 
those  cases  of  which  we  have  any  historical  record,  to  the 
continued  selection  and  accumulation  of  many  slight  suc- 
cessive variations. 

The  action  of  unconscious  selection,  as  far  as  pigeons 
are  concerned,  depends  on  a  universal  principle  in  human 
nature,  namely,  on  our  rivalry,  and  desire  to  outdo  our 
neighbours.  We  see  this  in  every  fleeting  fashion,  even 
in  our  dress,  and  it  leads  the  fancier  to  endeavour  to  ex- 
aggerate every  peculiarity  in  his  breeds.  A  great  autho- 
rity on  pigeons 44  says,  "  Fanciers  do  not  and  will  not  ad- 
mire a  medium  standard,  that  is,  half  and  half,  which  is 
neither  here  nor  there,  but  admire  extremes."  After  re- 
marking that  the  fancier  of  short-faced  beard  tumblers 
wishes  for  a  very  short  beak,  and  that  the  fancier  of  long- 
faced  beard  tumblers  wishes  for  a  very  long  beak,  he 
says,  with  respect  to  one  of  intermediate  length,  "  Don't 
deceive  yourself.  Do  you  suppose  for  a  moment  the  short 
or  the  long-faced  fancier  would  accept  such  a  bird  as  a 
gift  ?  Certainly  not ;  the  short-faced  fancier  could  see  no 
beauty  in  it ;  the  long-faced  fancier  would  swear  there 
was  no  use  in  it,  &c."  In  these  comical  passages,  written 
seriously,  we  see  the  principle  which  has  ever  guided  fan- 
ciei-s,  and  has  led  to  such  great  modifications  in  all  the 
domestic  races  which  are  valued  solely  for  their  beauty 
or  curiosity. 

Fashions  in  pigeon-breeding  endure  for  long  periods ; 
we  cannot  change  the  structure  of  a  bird  as  quickly  as 
we  can  the  fashion  of  our  dress.  In  the  time  of  Aldro- 
vandi,  no  doubt  the  more  the  pouter  inflated  his  crop,  the 
more  he  was  valued.  Nevertheless,  fashions  do  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  change  ;  first  one  point  of  sti'ucture  and  then 
another  is  attended  to  ;  or  different  breeds  are  admired  at 
different  times  and  in  different  countries.  As  the  author 
just  quoted  remarks,  "  the  fancy  ebbs  and  flows ;  a  tho- 


**  Eaton's  '  Treatise  on  Pigeons,'  1858,  p.  86. 


Chap.  VI.  FORMATION    OF    CHIEF    RACES.  263 

rough  fancier  now-a-days  never  stoops  to  breed  toy-birds ;" 
yet  these  very  "  toys "  are  now  most  carefully  bred  in 
Germany.  Breeds  which  at  the  present  time  are  highly 
valued  in  India  are  considered  worthless  in  England. 
No  doubt,  when  breeds  are  neglected,  they  degenerate ; 
still  we  may  believe  that,  as  long  as  they  are  kept  under 
the  same  conditions  of  life,  characters  once  gained  will  be 
partially  retained  for  a  long  time,  and  may  form  the 
starting-point  for  a  future  course  of  selection. 

Let  it  not  be  objected  to  this  view  of  the  action  of  un- 
conscious selection  that  fanciers  would  not  observe  or 
care  for  extremely  slight  differenoes.  Those  alone  who 
have  associated  with  fanciers  can  be  thoroughly  aware  of 
their  accurate  powers  of  discrimination  acquired  by  long 
practice,  and  of  the  care  aud  labour  which  they  bestow 
on  their  birds.  I  have  known  a  fancier  deliberately  study 
his  birds  day  after  day  to  settle  which  to  match  together 
and  which  to  reject.  Observe  how  difficult  the  subject 
appears  to  one  of  the  most  eminent  and  experienced  fan- 
ciers. Mr.  Eaton,  the  winner  of  many  prizes,  says,  "  I 
would  here  particularly  guard  you  against  keeping  too 
great  a  variety  of  pigeons,  otherwise  you  will  know  a  lit- 
tle about  all  the  kinds,  but  nothing  about  one  as  it  ought 
to  be  known."  "  It  is  possible  there  may  be  a  few  fan- 
ciers that  have  a  good  general  knoAvledge  of  the  several 
fancy  pigeons,  but  there  are  many  who  labour  under  the 
delusion  of  supposing  they  know  what  they  do  not." 
Speaking  exclusively  of  one  sub-variety  of  one  race, 
namely,  the  short-faced  almond  tumbler,  and  after  saying 
that  some  fanciers  sacrifice  every  property  to  obtain  a 
good  head  and  beak,  and  that  other  fanciers  sacrifice 
everything  for  plumage,  he  remarks:  "Some  young  fan- 
ciers who  are  over  covetous  go  in  for  all  the  five  proper- 
ties at  once,  and  they  have  their  reward  by  getting 
nothing."  In  India,  as  I  hear  from  Mr.  Blyth,  pigeons 
arc  likewise  selected  and  matched  with  the  greatest  care. 
But  we  must  not  judge  of  the  slight  differences  which 


264  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VL 

would  have  been  valued  in  ancient  days,  by  those  which 
are  now  valued  after  the  formation  of  many  races,  each 
with  its  own  standard  of  perfection,  kept  uniform  by  our 
numerous  Exhibitions.  The  ambition  of  the  most  ener- 
getic fancier  may  be  fully  satisfied  by  the  difficulty  of  ex- 
celling other  fanciers  in  the  breeds  ah-eady  established, 
without  trying  to  form  a  new  one. 

A  difficulty  with  respect  to  the  power  of  selection  will 
perhaps  already  have  occurred  to  the  reader,  namely, 
what  could  have  led  fanciers  first  to  attempt  to  make 
such  singular  breeds  ,as  pouters,  fantails,  carriers,  &c.  ? 
But  it  is  this  very  difficulty  which  the  principle  of  un- 
conscious selection  removes.  Undoubtedly  no  fancier 
ever  did  intentionally  make  such  an  attempt.  All  that 
we  need  suppose  is  that  a  variation  occurred  sufficiently 
marked  to  catch  the  discriminating  eye  of  some  ancient 
fancier,  and  then  unconscious  selection  carried  on  for 
many  generations,  that  is,  the  wish  of  succeeding  fanciers 
to  excel  their  rivals,  would  do  the  rest.  In  the  case  of 
the  fantail  we  may  suppose  that  the  first  progenitor  of 
the  breed  had  a  tail  only  slightly  erected,  as  may  now 
be  seen  in  certain  runts,45  with  some  increase  in  the 
number  of  the  tail-feathers,  as  now  occasionally  occurs 
with  nuns.  In  the  case  of  the  pouter  we  may  suppose 
that  some  bird  inflated  its  crop  a  little  more  than  other 
pigeons,  as  is  now  the  case  in  a  slight  degree  with  the 
oesophagus  of  the  turbit.  We  do  not  in  the  least  know 
the  origin  of  the  common  tumbler,  but  we  may  suppose 
that  a  bird  was  born  with  some  affection  of  the  brain, 
leading  it  to  make  somersaults  in  the  air ;  and  the  diffi- 
culty in  this  case  is  lessened,  as  we  know  that,  before 
the  year  1600,  in  India,  pigeons  remarkable  for  their 
diversified  manner  of  flight  were  much  valued,  and  by 


45  See  Neumeister's  figure  of  the  Florence  runt,  tab.  13,  in  'Das  Ganze  der  Tau- 
benzucht.' 


Chap.  VI.  FORMATION"    OF   CHIEF    RACES.  265 

the  order  of  the  Emperor  Akber  Khan  were  sedulously 
trained  and  carefully  matched. 

In  the  foregoing  cases  we  have  supposed  that  a  sudden 
variation,  conspicuous  enough  to  catch  a  fancier's  eye, 
first  appeared ;  but  even  this  degree  of  abruptness  in  the 
process  of  variation  is  not  necessary  for  the  formation  of 
a  new  breed.  "When  the  same  kind  of  pigeon  has  been 
kept  pure,  and  has  been  bred  during  a  long  period  by 
two  or  more  fanciers,  slight  differences  in  the  strain  can 
often  be  recognised.  Thus  I  have  seen  first-rate  jacobins 
in  one  man's  possession  which  certainly  differed  slightly 
in  several  characters  from  those  kept  by  another.  I  pos- 
sessed some  excellent  barbs  descended  from  a  pair  which 
had  won  a  prize,  and  another  lot  descended  from  a  stock 
formerly  kept  by  that  famous  fancier  Sir  John  Sebright, 
•  and  these  plainly  differed  in  the  form  of  the  beak ;  but 
the  differences  were  so  slight,  that  they  could  hardly  be 
described  by  words.  Again,  the  common  English  and 
Dutch  tumbler  differ  in  a  somewhat  greater  degree,  both 
in  length  of  beak  and  shape  of  head.  "What  first  caused 
these  slight  differences  cannot  be  explained  any  more 
than  why  one  man  has  a  long  nose  and  another  a  short 
one.  In  the  strains  long  kept  distinct  by  different  fan- 
ciers, such  differences  are  so  common  that  they  cannot 
be  accounted  for  by  the  accident  of  the  birds  first  chosen 
for  breeding  having  been  originally  as  different  as  they 
now  are.  The  explanation  no  doubt  lies  in  selection  of  a 
slightly  different  nature  having  been  applied  in  each 
case ;  for  no  two  fanciei's  have  exactly  the  same  taste, 
and  consequently  no  two,  in  choosing  and  carefully 
matching  their  birds,  prefer  or  select  exactly  the  same. 
As  each  man  naturally  admires  his  own  birds,  he  goes  on 
continually  exaggerating  by  selection  whatever  slight 
peculiarities  they  may  possess.  This  will  more  especially 
happen  with  fanciers  living  in  different  countries,  who 
do  not  compare  their  stocks  and  aim  at  a  common  stand- 
ard of  perfection.  Thus,  when  a  mere  strain  has  once 
12 


266  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

been  formed,  unconscious  selection  steadily  tends  to 
augment  the  amount  of  difference,  and  thus  converts  the 
strain  into  a  sub-breed,  and  this  ultimately  into  a  well- 
marked  breed  or  race. 

The  principle  of  correlation  of  growth  should  never  be 
lost  sight  of.  Most  pigeons  have  small  feet,  apparently 
caused  by  their  lessened  use,  and  from  correlation,  as  it 
would  appear,  their  beaks  have  likewise  become  reduced 
in  length.  The  beak  is  a  conspicuous  organ,  and,  as 
soon  as  it  had  thus  become  perceptibly  shortened,  fanciers 
would  almost  certainly  strive  to  reduce  it  still  more  by 
the  continued  selection  of  birds  with  the  shortest  beaks  ; 
whilst  at  the  same  time  other  fanciers,  as  we  know  has 
actually  been  the  case,  would,  in  other  sub-breeds,  strive 
to  increase  its  length.  With  the  increased  length  of  the 
beak,  the  tongue  would  become  greatly  lengthened,  as 
would  the  eyelids  with  the  increased  development  of 
the  eye-wattles;  with  the  reduced  or  increased  size  of 
the  feet  the  number  of  the  scutellse  would,  vary ;  with  the 
length  of  the  wing  the  number  of  the  primary- wing- 
feathers  would  differ ;  and  with  the  increased  length  of 
the  body  in  the  pouter  the  number  of  the  sacral  vertebrae 
would  be  augmented.  These  important  and  correlated 
differences  of  structure  do  not  invariably  characterise 
any  breed ;  but  if  they  had  been  attended  to  and  selected 
with  as  much  care  as  the  more  conspicuous  external 
differences,  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  they  would 
have  been  rendered  constant.  Fanciers  could  assuredly 
have  made  a  race  of  tumblers  with  nine  instead  of  ten 
primary  wing-feathers,  seeing  how  often  the  number  nine 
appears  without  any  wish  on  their  part,  and  indeed  in 
the  case  of  the  white-winged  varieties  in  opposition  to 
their  wish.  In  a  similar  manner,  if  the  vertebrae  had 
been  visible  and  had  been  attended  to  by  fanciers,  as- 
suredly an  additional  number  might  easily  have  been 
fixed  in  the  poutei*.  If  these  latter  characters  had  once 
been  rendered  constant  we  should  never  have  suspected 


Chap.  vi.  FORMATION    OF    CHIEF    RACES.  267 

that  they  had  at  first  been  highly  variable,  or  that  they 
had  arisen  from  correlation,  in  the  one  case  with  the 
shortness  of  the  wings,  and  in  the  other  case  with  the 
length  of  the  body. 

In  order  to  understand  how  the  chief  domestic  races 
have  become  distinctly  separated  from  each  other,  it  is 
important  to  bear  in  mind,  that  fanciers  constantly  try 
to  breed  from  the  best  birds,  and  consequently  that  those 
which  are  inferior  in  the  requisite  qualities  are  in  each 
generation  neglected ;  so  that  after  a  time  the  less  im- 
proved parent-stocks  and  many  subsequently  formed 
intermediate  grades  become  extinct.  This  has  occurred 
in  the  oase  of  the  pouter,  turbit,  and  trumpeter,  for  these 
highly  improved  bi*eeds  are  now  left  without  any  links 
closely  connecting  them  either  with  each  other  or  with  the 
aboriginal  rock-pigeon.  .  In  other  countries,  indeed,  where 
the  same  care  has  not  been  applied,  or  where  the  same 
fashion,  has  not  prevailed,  the  earlier  forms  may  long 
remain  unaltered  or  altered  only  in  a  slight  degree,  and 
we  are  thus  sometimes  enabled  to  recover  the  connecting 
links.  This  is  the  case  in  Persia  and  India  with  the  tum- 
bler and  carrier,  which  there  differ  but  slightly  from  the 
rock-pigeon  in  the  proportions  of  their  beaks.  So  again 
in  Java,  the  fantail  sometimes  has  only  fourteen  caudal 
feathers,  and  the  tail  is  much  less  elevated  and-  expanded 
than  in  our  improved  birds ;  so  that  the  Java  bird  forms 
a  link  between  a  first-rate  fantail  and  the  rock-pigeon. 

Occasionally  a  breed  may  be  retained  for  some  particu- 
lar quality  in  a  nearly  unaltered  condition  in  the  same 
country,  together  with  highly  modified  offshoots  or  sub- 
breeds,  which  are  valued  for  some  distinct  property.  We 
see  this  exemplified  in  England,  where  the  common  tum- 
bler, which  is  valued  only  for  its  flight,  does  not  differ 
much  from  its  parent-form,  the  Eastern  tumbler ;  whereas 
the  short-faced  tumbler  has  been  prodigiously  modified, 
from  being  valued,  not  for  its  flight,  but  for  other  quali- 
ties.    But  the    common-flying   tumbler  of  Europe  has 


268  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

already  begun  to  branch  out  into  slightly  different  sub- 
breeds,  such  as  the  common  English  tumbler,  the  Dutch 
roller,  the  Glasgow  house-tumbler,  and  the  long-faced 
beard  tumbler,  &c. ;  and  in  the  course  of  centuries, 
unless  fashions  greatly  change,  these  sub-breeds  will 
diverge  through  the  slow  and  insensible  process  of  uncon- 
scious selection,  and  become  modified,  in  a  greater  and 
greater  degree.  After  a  time  the  perfectly  graduated 
links,  which  now  connect  all  these  sub-breeds  together, 
will  be  lost,  for  there  would  be  no  object  and  much  diffi- 
culty in  retaining  such  a  host  of  intermediate  sub-varie- 
ties. 

The  principle  of  divergence,  together  with  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  many  previously  existing  intermediate  forms, 
is  so  important  for  understanding  the  origin  of  domestic 
races,  as  well  as  of  species  in  a  state  of  nature,  that  I 
will  enlarge  a  little  more  on  this  subject.  Our  third  main 
group  includes  carriers,  barbs,  and  runts,  which  are 
plainly  related  to  each  other,  yet  wonderfully  distinct  in 
several  important  characters.  According  to  the  view  given 
in  the  last  chapter,  these  three  races  have  probably  de- 
scended from  an  unknown  race  having  an  intermediate  cha- 
racter and  this  from  the  rock-pigeon.  Their  characteristic 
differences  are  believed  to  be  due  to  different  breeders 
having  at  an  early  period  admired  different  points  of 
structm-e;  and  then,  on  the  acknowledged  principle  of 
admiring  extremes,  having  gone  on  breeding,  without 
any  thought  of  the  future,  as  good  birds  as  they  could, — 
carrier-fanciers  preferring  long  beaks  with  much  wat- 
tle,— barb-fanciers  preferring  short  thick  beaks  with 
much  eye-wattle, — and  runt-fanciers  not  caring  about  the 
beak  or  wattle,  but  only  for  the  size  and  weight  of  the 
body.  This  process  will  have  led  to  the  neglect  and  final 
extinction  of  the  earlier,  inferior,  and  intermediate  birds; 
and  thus  it  has  come  to  pass,  that  in  Europe  these  three 
races  are  now  so  extraordinarily  distinct  from  each  other. 
But  in  the  East,  whence  they  were  originally  brought, 


Chap.  VI.  FORMATION    OF    CHIEF    EACES.  269 

the  fashion  has  boon  different,  and  we  there  see  breeds 
■which  connect  the  highly  modified  English  carrier  with 
the  rock-pigeon,  and  others  which  to  a  certain  extent 
connect  carriers  and  runts.  Looking  back  to  the  time 
of  Aldrovandi,  we  find  that  there  existed  in  Europe, 
before  the  year  1600,  four  breeds  which  were  closely 
allied  to  carriers  and  barbs,  but  which  competent  au- 
thorities cannot  now  identify  with  our  present  barbs  and 
carriers;  nor  can  Aldrovandi's  runts  be  identified  with 
our  present  runts.  These  four  breeds  certainly  did  not 
differ  from  each  other  nearly  so  much  as  do  our  existing 
English  carriers,  barbs,  and  runts.  All  this  is  exactly 
what  might  have  been  anticipated.  If  we  could  collect 
all  the  pigeons  which  have  ever  lived,  from  before  the 
time  of  the  Romans  to  the  present  day,  we  should  be 
able  to  group  them  in  several  lines,  diverging  from  the 
parent  rock-pigeon.  Each  line  would  consist  of  almost 
insensible  steps,  occasionally  broken  by  some  slightly 
greater  variation  or  sport,  and  each  would  culminate  in 
one  of  our  present  highly  modified  forms.  Of  the  many- 
former  connecting  links,  some  would  be  found  to  have 
become  absolutely  extinct  without  having  left  any  issue, 
whilsX  others  though  extinct  would  be  seen  to  be  the 
progenitors  of  the  existing  races. 

I  have  heard  it  remarked  as  a  strange  circumstance 
that  we  occasionally  hear  of  the  local  or  complete  ex- 
tinction of  domestic  races,  whilst  we  hear  nothing  of  their 
origin.  How,  it  has  been  asked,  can  these  losses  be  com- 
pensated, and  more  than  compensated,  for  we  know  that 
with  almost  all  domesticated  animals  the  races  have  largely 
increased  in  number  since  the  time  of  the  Romans  ?  But 
on  the  view  here  given,  we  can  understand  this  apparent 
contradiction.  The  extinction  of  a  race  within  historical 
times  is  an  event  likely  to  be  noticed ;  but  its  gradual 
and  scarcely  sensible  modification  through  unconscious 
selection,  and  its  subsequent  divergence,  either  in  the 
same  or  more  commonly  in  distant  countries,  into  two  or 


270  DOMESTIC » PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

more  strains,  and  their  gradual  conversion  into  sub-breeds, 
and  these  into  well-marked  breeds,  are  events  which 
would  rarely  he  noticed.  The  death  of  a  tree,  that  has 
attained  gigantio  dimensions,  is  recorded ;  the  slow 
growth  of  smaller  trees  and  their  increase  in  number 
excite  no  attention. 

In  accordance  with  the  belief  of  the  great  power  of 
selection,  and  of  the  little  direct  power  of  changed  con- 
ditions of  life,  except  in  causing  general  variability  or 
plasticity  of  organisation,  it  is  not  surprising  that  dovecof- 
pigeons  have  remained  unaltered  from  time  immemorial ; 
and  that  some  toy-pigeons,  which  differ  in  little  else 
besides  colour  from  the  dovecot-pigeon,  have  retained  the 
same  character  for  several  centuries.  For  when  one  of 
these  toy-pigeons  had  once  become  beautifully  and  sym- 
metrically coloured, — when,  for  instance,  a  Spot  had  been 
produced  with  the  crown  of  its  head,  its  tail,  and  tail- 
coverts  of  a  uniform  colour,  the  rest  of  the  body  being 
snow-white, — no  alteration  or  improvement  would  be 
desired.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
during  this  same  interval  of  time  our  highly-bred  pigeons 
have  undergone  an  astonishing  amount  of  change ;  for  in 
regard  to  them  there  is  no  defined  limit  to  the  wish  of  the 
fanciei*,  and  there  is  no  known  limit  to  the  variability  of 
their  characters.  What  is  there  to  stop  the  fancier 
desiring  to  give  to  his  carrier  a  longer  and  longer  beak, 
or  to  his  tumbler  a  shorter  and  shorter  beak  ?  nor  has  the 
extreme  limit  of  variability  in  the  beak,  if  there  be  any 
such  limit,  as  yet  been  reached.  Notwithstanding  the 
great  improvement  effected  within  recent  times  in  the 
short-faced  almond  tumbler,  Mr.  Eaton  remarks,  "the 
field  is  still  as  open  for  fresh  competitors  as  it  was  one 
'  hundred  years  ago ; "  but  this  is  perhaps  an  exaggerated 
assertion,  for  the  young  of  all  highly  improved  fancy  birds 
are  extremely  liable  to  disease  and  death. 

I  have  heard   it  objected   that  the  formation   of  the 
several  domestic  races  of  the  pigeon  throws  no  light  on 


Chap.  VI.  FORMATION    OF    CHIEF    RACES.  271 

the  origin  of  the  wild  species  of  the  Columbidre,  because 
their  differences  are  not  of  the  same  nature.  The 
domestic  races  for  instance  do  not  differ,  or  differ. hardly 
at  all,  in  the  relative  lengths  and  shapes  of  the  primary 
wing-feathers,  in  the  relative  length  of  the  hind  toe,  or  in 
habits  of  life,  as  in  roosting  and  building  in  trees.  But 
the  above  objection  shows  how  completely  the  principle 
of  selection  has  been  misunderstood.  It  is  not  likely  that 
characters  selected  by  the  caprice  of  man  should  resemble 
differences  preserved  under  natural  conditions,  either  from 
being  of  direct  service  to  each  species,  or  from  standing 
in  correlation  with  other  modified  and  serviceable  struc- 
tures. Until  man  selects  birds  differing  in  the  relative 
length  of  the  wing-feathers  or  toes,  &c,  no  sensible 
change  in  these  parts  should  be  expected.  Nor  could 
man  do  anything  unless  these  parts  happened  to  vary 
under  domestication :  I  do  not  positively  assert  that  this 
is  the  case,  although  I  have  seen  traces  of  such  variability 
in  the  wing-feathers,  and  certainly  in  the  tail-feathers.  It 
would  be  a  strange  fact  if  the  relative  length  of  the  hind 
toe  should  never  vary,  seeing  how  variable  the  foot  is 
both  in  size  and  in  the  number  of  the  scutellse.  With 
respect  to  the  domestic  races  not  roosting  or  building  in 
trees,  it  is  obvious  that  fanciers  would  never  attend  to  or 
select  such  changes  in  habits ;  but  we  have  seen  that  the 
pigeons  in  Egypt,  which  do  not  for  some  reason  like 
settling  on  the  low  mud  hovels  of  the  natives,  are  led, 
apparently  by  compulsion,  to  perch  in  crowds  on  the 
trees.  We  may  even  affirm  that,  if  our  domestic  races 
had  become  greatly  modified  in  any  of  the  above  specified 
respects,  and  it  could  be  shown  that  fanciers  had  never 
attended  to  such  points,  or  that  they. did  not  stand  in 
correlation  with  other  selected  characters,  the  fact,  on  the 
principles  advocated  in  this  chapter,  would  have  offered 
a  serious  difficulty. 

Let  us  briefly  sum  up  the  last  two  chapters  on  the 
pigeon.    We  may  conclude  with  confidence  that  all  the 


272  DOMESTIC    PIGEONS.  Chap.  VI. 

domestic  races,  notwithstanding  their  great  amount  of 
difference,  are  descended  from  the  Columba  livia,  includ- 
ing under  this  name  certain  wild  races.  But  the  differ-, 
ences  between  these  latter  forms  throw  no  light  whatever 
on  the  characters  which  distinguish  the  domestic  races. 
In  each  breed  or  sub-breed  the  individual  birds  are  more 
variable  than  birds  in  a  state  of  nature  ;  and  occasional- 
ly they  vary  in  a  sudden  and  strongly-marked  manner. 
This  plasticity  of  organisation  apparently  results  from 
changed  conditions  of  life.  Disuse  has  reduced  certain 
parts  of  the  body.  Correlation  of  growth  so  ties  the  or- 
ganisation together,  that  when  one  part  varies  other  parts 
vary  at  the  same  time.  When  several  breeds  have  once 
been  formed,  their  intercrossing  aids  the  progress  of  modi- 
fication, aqd  has  even  produced  new  sub-breeds.  But  as, 
in  the  construction  of  a  building,  mere  stones  or  bricks 
are  of  little  avail  without  the  builder's  art,  so,  in  the  pro- 
duction of  new  races,  selection  has  been  the  presiding 
power.  Fanciers  can  act  by  selection  on  excessively 
slight  individual  differences,  as  well  as  on  those  greater 
differences  which  are  called  sports.  Selection  is  followed 
methodically  when  the  fancier  tries  to  improve  and  modi- 
fy a  breed  according  to  a  prefixed  standard  of  excellence ; 
or  he  acts  unmethodically  and  unconsciously,  by  merely 
trying  to  rear  as  good  birds  as  he  can,  without  any  wish 
or  intention  to  alter  the  breed.  The  progress  of  selection 
almost  inevitably  leads  to  the  neglect  and  ultimate  extinc- 
tion of  the  earlier  and  less  improved  forms,  as  well  as  of 
many  intermediate  links  in  each  long  line  of  descent, 
Thus  it  has  come  to  pass  that  most  of  our  present  races 
are  so  marvellously  distinct  from  each  other,  and  from  the 
aboriginal  rock-pigeon. 


Chat.  VII.  FOWLS.  273 


CHAPTER    VIL 

FOWLS. 

BRIEF  DESCRIPTIONS  OP  THE  CHIEF  BREEDS  —  ARGUMENTS  IN  FA- 
VOUR OF  THEIR  DESCENT  FROM  SEVERAL  SPECIES  —  ARGUMENTS 
IN  FAVOUR  OF  ALL  THE  BREEDS  HAVING  DESCENDED  FROM  GAL- 
LUS  BANKIVA  —  REVERSION  TO  THE  PARENT-STOCK  IN  COLOUR  — 
ANALOGOUS  VARIATIONS  — ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  FOWL  —  EX- 
TERNAL DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN  THE  SEVERAL  BREEDS  —  EGGS 
—  CHICKENS  —  SECONDARY  SEXUAL  CHARACTERS  —  WING-  AND 
TADL-  FEATHERS,  VOICE,  DISPOSITION,  ETC.  —  OSTEOLOGICAL- DIF- 
FERENCES IN  THE  SKULL,  VERTEBRAE,  ETC.  —  EFFECTS  OF  USE 
AND  DISUSE   ON   CERTAIN  PARTS  —  CORRELATION  OF  GROWTH. 

As  some  naturalists  may  not  be  familiar  with  the  chief 
breeds  of  the  fowl,  it  will  be  advisable  to  give  a  con- 
densed description  of  them.1  From  what  I  have  read  and 
seen  of  specimens  brought  from  several  quarters  of  the 
world,  I  believe  that  most  of  the  chief  kinds  have  been 
imported  into  England,  but  many  sub-breeds  are  proba- 
bly still  here  unknown.  The  following  discussion  on  the 
origin  of  the  various  breeds  and  on  their  characteristic 
differences  does  not  pretend  to  completeness,  but  maybe 
of  some  interest  to  the  naturalist.  The  classification  of 
the  breeds  cannot,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  be  made  natural. 


1  I  have  drawn  up  this  brief  synopsis  ed  me  in  every  possible  way  in  obtaining 

from  various  sources,  but  chiefly  from  for  me  information   and  specimens.     I 

information  given  me  by  Mr.  Tegetmeier.  must  not  let  this  opportunity  pass  with- 

This     gentleman     has    kindly     looked*  out  expressing  my  cordial  thanks  to  Mr. 

through  the  whole  of  this  chapter ;   and  B.  P.  Brent,  a  well-known  writer  on  poul- 

from    his  well-known    knowk-dge,    the  try,  for  indefatigable  assistance  and  the 

statements  here  given  may  be  fully  trust-  gift  of  many  specimens. 
ed.    Mr.  Tegetmeier  has  likewise  assist- 

12* 


274 


FOWLS. 


Chap.  VII. 


They  differ  from  each  other  in  different  degrees,  and  do 
not  afford  characters  in  subordination  to  each  other,  by 
which  they  can  be  ranked  in  group  under  group.  They 
seem  all  to  have  diverged  by  independent  and  different 


0. — Spanish  Fowl. 


roads  from  a  single  type.  Each  chief  breed  includes  dif- 
ferently coloured  sub-varieties,  most  of  which  can  be  truly 
propagated,  but  it  would  be  superfluous  to  describe  them. 
I  have  classed  the  various  crested  fowls  as  sub-breeds 
under  the  Polish  fowl ;  but  I  have  great  doubts  whether 


Chap.  VII.  DESCRIPTION    OF    BREEDS.  275 

this  is  a  natural  ai-rangement,  showing  true  affinity  or 
blood  relationship.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  avoid  laying 
stress  on  the  commonness  of  a  breed  ;  and  if  certain  for- 
eign sub-breeds  had  been  largely  kept  in  this  country  they 
would  perhaps  have  been  raised  to  the  rank  of  main- 
breeds.  Several  breeds  are  abnormal  in  character ;  that 
is,  they  differ  in  certain  points  from  all  wild  Gallinaceous 
birds.  At  first  I  made  a  division  of- the  breeds  into  nor- 
mal and  abnormal,  but  the  result  was  wholly  unsatisfac- 
tory. 

1.  Game  Breed, — This  may  be  considered  as  the  typical  breed, 
as  it  deviates  only  slightly  from  the  wild  Gallus  bankica,  or,  as  per- 
haps more  correctly  named,  ferrvgiaeus.  Beak  strong ;  comb  single 
and  upright.  Spurs  long  and  sharp.  Feathers  closely  adpressed 
to  the  body.  Tail  with  the  normal  number  of  14  feathers.  Eggs 
often  pale-buff.  Disposition  indomitably  courageous,  exhibited  even 
in  the  hens  and  chickens.  An  unusual  number  of  differently  col- 
oured varieties  exist,  such  as  black  and  brown-breasted  reds,  duck- 
wings,  blacks,  whites,  piles,  &c,  with  their  legs  of  various  colours. 

2.  Malay  Breed. — Body  of  great  size,  with  head,  neck,  and  legs 
elongated  ;  carriage  erect ;  tail  small,  sloping  downwards,  generally 
formed  of  16  feathers ;  comb  and  wattle  small ;  ear-lobe  and  face 
red  ;  skin  yellowish  ;  feathers  closely  adpressed  to  the  body ;  neck- 
hackles  short,  narrow,  and  hard.  Eggs  often  pale  buff.  Chickens 
feather  late.    Disposition  savage.     Of  Eastern  origin. 

8.  Cochin,  or  Shangai  Breed. — Size  great ;  wing-feathers  short, 
arched,  much  hidden  in  the  soft  downy  plumage  ;  barely  capable  of 
flight ;  tail  short,  generally  formed  of  16  feathers,  developed  at  a 
late  period  in  the  young*males  ;  legs  thick,  feathered  ;  spurs  short, 
thick ;  nail  of  middle  toe  flat  and  broad ;  an  additional  toe  not 
rarely  developed ;  skin  yellowish.  Comb  and  wattle  well  devel- 
oped. Skull  with  deep  medial  farrow ;  occipital  foramen,  sub- 
triangular,  vertically  elongated.  Voice  peculiar.  Eggs  rough,  buff- 
coloured.     Disposition  extremely  quiet.     Of  Chinese  origin. 

4.  Dorking  Breed. — Size  great ;  body  square,  compact ;  feet 
with  an  additional  toe  ;  comb  well  developed,  but  varies  much  in 
form  ;  wattles  well  developed  ;  colour  of  plumage  various.  Skull 
remarkably  broad  between  the  orbits.-    Of  English  origin. 

The  white  Dorking  may  be  considered  as  a  distinct  sub-breed, 
being  a  less  massive  bird. 

5.  Spanish  Breed. — Tall,  with  stately  carriage ;  tarsi  long  ;  comb 


2 76  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

single,  deeply  serrated,  of  immense  size  ;  wattles  largely  developed  ; 
the  large  ear-lobes  and  sides  of  face  white.  Plumage  black  glossed 
with  green.  Do  not  incubate.  Tender  in  constitution,  the  comb 
being  often  injured  by  frost.  Eggs  white,  smooth,  of  large  size. 
Chickens  feather  late,  but  the  young  cocks  show  their  masculine 
characters,  and  crow  at  an  early  age.     Of  Mediterranean  origin. 

The  Andalusimis  maybe  ranked  as  a  sub-breed:  they  are  of  a 
slaty  blue  colour,  and  their  chickens  are  well  feathered.  A  smaller, 
short- legged  Dutch  sub-breed  has  been  described  by  some  authors 
as  distinct. 

6.  Hamburgh  Breed  (fig.  31). — Size  moderate  ;  comb  fiat,  pro- 
duced backwards,  covered  with  numerous  small  points  ;  wattle  of 
moderate  dimensions  ;  ear-lobe  white  ;  legs  blueish,  thin.  Do  not 
incubate.  Skull,  with  the  tips  of  the  ascending  branches  of  the 
premaxillary  and  with  the  nasal  bones  standing  a  little  separate 
from  each  other  ;  anterior  margin  of  the  frontal  bones  less  de- 
pressed than  usual. 

There  are  two  sub-breeds  ;  the  spangled  Hamburgh,  of  English 
origin,  with  the  tips  of  the  feathers  marked  with  a  dark  spot ;  and 
the  pencilled  Hamburgh,  of  Dutch  origin,  with  dark  transverse  lines 
across  each  feather,  and  with  the  body  rather  smaller.  Both  these 
sub-breeds  include  gold  and  silver  varieties,  as  well  as  some  other 
sub-varieties.  Black  Hamburghs  have  been  produced  by  a  cross 
with  the  Spanish  breed. 

7.  Crested  or  Polish  Breed  (fig.  32): — Head  with  a  large, 
rounded  crest  of  feathers,  supported  on  a  hemispherical  protube- 
rance of  the  frontal  bones,  which  includes  the  anterior  part  of  the 
brain.  The  ascending  branches  of  the  premaxillary  bones  and  the 
inner  nasal  processes  are  much  shortened.  The  orifice  of  the  nos- 
trils raised  and  ci*escentic.  Beak  short.  Comb  absent,  or  small  and 
of  crescentic  shape ;  wattles  either  present  or  replaced  by  a  beard- 
like  tuft  of  feathers.  Legs  leaden-blue.  Sexual  differences  appear 
late  in  life.  Do  not  incubate.  There  are  several  beautiful  varieties 
which  differ  in  colour  and  slightly  in  other  respects. 

The  following  sub-breeds  agree  in  having  a  crest,  more  or  less 
developed,  with  the  comb,  when  present,  of  crescentic  shape.  The 
skull  presents  nearly  the  same  remarkable  peculiarities  of  structure 
as  in  the  true  Polish  fowl. 

Sub-breed  (a)  Sultans. — A  Turkish  breed,  resembling  white  Polish 
fowls,  with  a  large  crest  and  beard,  with  short  and  well-feathered 
legs.  The  tail  is  furnished  with  additional  sickle  feathers.  Do  not 
incubate.2 

2  The  best  account  of  Sultans  is  by        the  examination  of  some  specimens  of 
Miss  Watts  in  '  The  Poultry  Yard,'  1856,        this  breed. 
p.  79.     I  owe  to  Mr.  Brent's  kindness 


Chat.  VII. 


DESCRIPTION    OB"    BREEDS. 


277 


Sub-breed  (b)  Ptarmigans. — An  inferior  breed  closely  allied  to  the 
last,  white,  rather  small, legs  much  feathered,  with  the  crest  pointed  ; 
comb  small,  cupped  ;  wattles  small. 


Fig.  31.— Hamburgh  Fowl. 

Sub-breed  (c)  Ghoondooks. — Another  Turkish  breed  having  an  ex- 
traordinary appearance  ;  black  and  tailless  ;  crest  and  beard  large  ; 
legs  feathered.  The  inner  processes  of  the  two  nasal  bones  come 
into  contact  with  each  other,  owing  to  the  complete  absorption  of 
the  ascending  branches  of  the  premaxillaries.  I  have  seen  an  allied, 
white,  tailless  breed  from  Turkey  . 

Sub-breed  (d)  Creve-cmir. — A  French  breed  of  large  size,  barely 
capable  of  flight,  with  short  black  legs,  head  crested,  comb  produced 
into  two  points  or  horns,  sometimes  a  little  branched  like  the  horns 
of  a  stag ;  both  beard  and  wattles  present.  Eggs  large.  Disposi- 
tion quiet.3 

3  A  good  description  with  figures  is  given  of  this  sub-breed  in  the  'Journal  of  Hor- 
ticulture,' June  10th,  1SG2,  p.  206. 


278  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

Sub-breed  (e)  Homed  fowl. — With  a  small  crest ;  cornb  produced 
into  two  great  points,  supported  on  two  bony- protuberances. 

Sub-breed  (/)  Houdan. — A  French  breed  ;  of  moderate  size,  short- 
legged  with  five  toes,  wings  well  developed ;  plumage  invariably 
mottled  with  black,  white,  and  straw-yellow;  head  furnished  'with 
a  crest,  and  a  triple  comb  placed  transversely;  both»wattles  and 
beard  present.4 

Sub-breed  (g)  Ouelderlands. — No  comb,  head  said  to  be  surmoun- 
ted by  a  longitudinal  crest  of  soft  velvety  feathers  ;  nostrils  said  to 
be  crescentic  ;  wattles  well  developed  ;  legs  feathered ;  colour  black. 
From  North  America.  The  Breda  fowl  seems  to  be  closely  allied  to 
the  Guelderland. 

8.  Bantam  Breed.  ■ —  Originally  from  Japan,5  characterized  by 
small  size  alone ;  carriage  bold  and  erect.  There  are  several  sub- 
breeds,  such  as  the  Cochin,  Game,  and  Sebright  Bantams,  some  of 
which  have  been  recently  formed  by  various  crosses.  The  Black 
Bantam  has  a  differently  shaped  skull,  with  the  occipital  foramen  like 
that  of  the  Cochin  fowl. 

9.  Bump-less  FoWLS.-~-These  are  so  variable  in  character 6  that 
they  hardly  deserve  to  be  called  a  breed.  Any  one  who  will  exam- 
ine the  caudal  vertebrae  will  see  how  monstrous  the  breed  is. 

10.  Creepers  or  Jumpers. — These  are  characterized  by  an  al- 
most monstrous  shortness  of  legs,  so  that  they  move  by  jumping 
rather  than  by  walking ;  they  are  said  not  to  scratch  up  the  ground. 
I  have  examined  a  Burmese  variety,  which  had  a  skull  of  rather  un- 
usual shape. 

11.  Frizzled  or  Cappre  Fowls. — Not  uncommon  in  India,  with 
the  feathers  curling  backwards,  and  with  the  primary  feathers  of  the 
wing  and  tail  imperfect ;  periosteum  of  bones  black. 

12.  Silk  Fowls. — Feathers  silky,  with  the  primary  wing  and  tail- 
feathers  imperfect ;  skin  and  periosteum  of  bones  black  ;  comb  and 
wattles  dark  leaden-blue  ;  ear  lappets  tinged  with  blue  ;  legs  thin, 
often  furnished  with  an  additional  toe.     Size  rather  small. 

13.  Sooty  Fowls.  —  An  Indian  breed,  of  a  white  colour  stained 
with  soot,  with  black  skin  and  periosteum.  The  hens  alone  are  thus 
characterized. 

From  this  synopsis  we  see  that  the  several  breeds  differ 


*  A  description,  with  figures,  is  given  mentioned  in  an  ancient  native  Japanese 

of  this  breed  in    '  Journal  of  Horticul-  Encyclopaedia,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr. 

ture,'    June    3rd,  1S62,   p.   1S6.      Some  Birch  of  the  British  Museum, 

writers  describe  the  comb  as  two-horned.  6  '  Ornamental   and    Domestic  Poul- 

a  Mr.  Crawfurd,  '  Descript.  Diet  of  the  try,'  1848. 
Indian  Islands,'  p.  113.    Bantams  are 


Chap.  VII. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    BEEEDS. 


279 


considerably,  and  they  would  have  been  nearly  as  inter- 
esting for  us  as  pigeons,  if  there  had  been  equally  good 


Fig.  S2.— Polish  Fowl. 

evidence  that  all  had  descended  from  one  parent-species. 
Most  fanciers  believe  that  they  are  descended  from  sev- 
eral primitive  stocks.  The  Rev.  E.  S.  Dixon7  argues 
strongly  on  this  side  of  the  question ;  and  one  fancier 
-even  denounces  the  opposite  conclusion  by  asking,  "  Do 
we  not  perceive  pervading  this  spirit,  the  spirit  of  the 


'  Ornamental  and  Domestic  Poultry,'  l^. 


280  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

Deist  f''  Most  naturalists/with  the  exception  of  a  few, 
such  as  Temminck,  believe  that  all  the  breeds  have  pro- 
ceeded from  a  single  species;  but  authority  on  such  a 
point  goes  for  little.  Fanciers  look  to  all  parts  of  the 
world  as  the  possible  sources  of  their  unknown  stocks  ; 
thus  ignoring  the  laws  of  geographical  distribution.  They 
know  well  that  the  several  kinds  breed  truly  even  in 
colour.  They  assert,  but,  as  we  shall  see,  -on  very  weak 
grounds,  that  most  of  the  breeds  are  extremely  ancient. 
They  are  strongly  impressed  with  the  great  difference 
between  the  chief  kinds,  and  they  ask  with  force,  can  dif- 
ferences in  climate,  food,  or  treatment  have  produced 
birds  so  different  as  the  black  stately  Spanish,  the  dimi- 
nutive elegant  Bantam,  the  heavy  Cochin  with  its  many 
peculiarities,  and  the  Polish  fowl  with  its  great  top-knot 
and  protuberant  skull  ?  But  fanciers,  whilst  admitting 
and  even  overrating  the  effects  of  crossing  the  various 
breeds,  do  not  sufficiently  regard  the  probability  of  the 
occasional  birth,  during  the  course  of  centuries,  of  birds 
with  abnormal  and  hereditary  peculiarities  ;  they  overlook 
the  effects  of  correlation  of  groAvth — of  the  long-continued 
use  and  disuse  of  parts,  and  of  some  direct  result  from 
changed  food  and  climate,  though  on  this  latter  head  I 
have  found  no  sufficient  evidence ;  and  lastly,  they  all, 
as  far  as  I  know,  entirely  overlook  the  all-important  sub- 
ject of  unconscious  or  unmethodical  selection,  though 
they  are  well  aware  that  their  birds  differ  individually, 
and  that  by  selecting  the  best  birds  for  a  few  generations 
they  can  improve  their  stocks. 

An  amateur  writes  8  as  follows.  "  The  fact  that  poul- 
try have  until  lately  received  but  little  attention  at  the 
hands  of  the  fancier,  and  been  entirely  confined  to  the 
domains  of  the  producer  for  the  market,  would  alone 
suggest  the  improbability  of  that  constant  and  unremit- 
ting attention  having  been  observed  in  breeding,  which 


8  Ferguson's  '  Illustrated  Series  of  Rare  aa<t  Prize  Poultry,'  lS5i,  p.  vi.,  Preface. 


Cuap.  vil.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  281 

is  requisite  to"  the  consummating,  in  the  offspring  of  any 
two  birds,  transmittable  forms  no  texhibited  by  the  pa-' 
rents."  This  at  first  sight  appears  true.  But  in  a  future 
chapter  on  Selection,  abundant  facts  will  be  given  show- 
ing not  only  that  careful  breeding,  but  that  actual  selec- 
tion was  practised  during  ancient  periods,  and  by  barely 
civilised  races  of  man.  In  the  case  of  the  fowl  I  can  ad- 
duce no  direct  facts  showing  that  selection  was  ancient- 
ly practised  ;  but  the  Romans  at  the  commencement  of 
the  Christian  era  kept  six  or  seven  breeds,  and- Columella 
"  particularly  recommends  as  the  best,  those  sorts  that 
have  five  toes^nd  white  ears."  9  In  the  fifteenth  century 
several  breeds  were  known  and  describeddn  Europe  ;  and 
in  China,  at  nearly  the  same  period,  seven  kinds  were 
named.  A  more  striking  case  is  that  at  present,  in  one 
of  the  Philippine  Islands,  the  semi-barbarous  inhabitants 
have  distinct  native  names  for  no  less  than  nine  sub- 
breeds  of  the  Game  Fowl.10  Azara,"  who  wrote  towards 
the  close  of  the  last  century,  states  that  in  the  interior 
parts  of  South  America,  where  I  should  not  have  ex- 
pected that  the  least  care  would  have  been  taken  of 
poultry,  a  black-skinned  and  black-boned  breed  is  kept, 
from  being  considered  fertile  and  its  flesh  good  for  sick 
persons.  Now  every  one  who  has  kept  poultry  knows 
how  impossible  it  is  to  keep  several  breeds  distinct  unless 
the  utmost  care  be  taken  in  separating  the  sexes.  Will 
it  then  be  pretended  that  those  persons  who  in  ancient 
times  and  in  semi-civilised  countries  took  pains  to  keep 
the  breeds  distinct,  and  who  therefore  valued  them, 
would  not  occasionally  have  destroyed  inferior  birds  and 
occasionally  have  preserved  their  best  birds  ?  This  is  all 
that  is  required.     It  is  not  pretended  that  any  one  in  an- 


•  Rev.  E.  S.  Dixon,  in  his  '  Ornamen-  tion,' separately  printed,  p.  6  ;  first  read 

tal  Poultry,'  p.  203,  gives  an  account  of  before  the  Brit.  Assoc,  at  Oxford,  1869. 

Columella's  work.  n  '  Quadrupedes  du  Paraguay,' torn. 

10  Mr.  Crawfurd  '  On  the  Relation  of  ii.  p.  824. 
the  Domesticated  Animals    to  Civiliza- 


282  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

cient  times  intended  to  form  a  new  breed*  or  to  modify 
an  old  breed  according  to  some  ideal  standard  of  excel- 
lence. He  who  cared  for  poultry  would  merely  wish  to 
obtain,  and  afterwards  to  rear,  the  best  birds- which  he 
could  ;  but  this  occasional  preservation  of  the  best  birds 
would  in  the  course  of  time  modify  the  breed,  as  surely, 
though  by  no  means  as  rapidly,  as  does  methodical  selec- 
tion at  the  present  day.  If  one  person  out  of  a  hundred 
or  out  of  a  thousand  attended  to  the  breeding  of  his 
birds,  this- would  be  sufficient ;  for  the  birds  thus  tended 
would  soon  become  superior  to  others,  and  would  form 
a  new  strain ;  and  this  strain  would,  as  explained  in  the 
last  chapter,  slpwly  have  its  characteristic  differences 
augmented,  and  at  last  be  converted  into  a  new  sub- 
breed  or  breed.  But  breeds  would  often  be  for  a  time 
neglected  and  would  deteriorate ;  they  would,  however, 
partially  retain  their  character,  and  afterwards  might 
again  come  into  fashion  and  be  raised  to  a  standard  of 
perfection  higher  than  their  former  standard  ;  as  has  ac- 
tually occurred  quite  recently  with  Polish  fowls.  If,  how- 
ever, a  breed  were  utterly  neglected,  it  would  become 
extinct,  as  has  recently  happened  with  one  of  the  Polish 
sub-breeds.  Whenever  in  the  course  of  past  centuries  a 
bird  appeared  with  some  slight  abnormal  structure,  such 
as  with  a  lark-like  crest  on  its  head,  it  would  probably 
often  have  been  preserved  from  that  love  of  novelty 
which  leads  some  persons  in  England  to  keep  rumpless 
fowls,  and  others  in  India  to  keep  frizzled  fowls.  And 
after  a  time  any  such  abnormal  appearance  would  be 
carefully  preserved,  from  being  esteemed  a  sign  of  the 
purity  and  excellence  of  the  breed  ;  for  on  this  principle 
the  Romans  eighteen  centuries  ago  valued  the  fifth  toe 
and  the  white  ear-lobe  in  their  fowls. 

Thus  from  the  occasional  appearance  of  abnormal  cha- 
racters, though  at  first  only  slight  in  degree  ;  from  the 
effects  of  the  use  and  the  disuse  of  parts  ;  possibly  from 
the  direct  effects  of  changed  climate  and  food ;  from  cor- 


Clap.  VII.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  283 

relation  of  gro  wth ;  from  occasional  reversions  to  old 
and  long-lost  characters ;  from  the  crossing  of  breeds, 
when  more  than  one  had  once  been  formed ;  but,  above 
all,  from  unconscious  selection  carried  on  daring  many 
generations,  there  is  no  insuperable  difficulty,  to  the  best 
of  my  judgment,  in  believing  that  all  the  breeds  have 
descended  from  some  one  parent-source.  Can  any  sin- 
gle species  be  named  from  which  we  may  reasonably 
suppose  that  all  have  descended  ?  The  Gallus  banJdva 
apparently  fulfils  every  requirement.  I  have  already 
given  as  fair  an  account  as  I  could  of  the  arguments  in 
favour  of  the  multiple  origin  of  the  several  breeds  ;  and 
now  I  will  give  those  in  favour  of  their  common  descent 
from  G.  banJciva. 

But  it  'will  be  convenient  first  briefly  to  describe  all  the  known 
species  of  Gallus.  The  G.  Sonneratii  does  not  range  into  the  north- 
ern parts  of  India ;  according  to  Colonel  Sykes,12  it  presents  at  dif- 
ferent heights  on  the  Ghauts,  two  strongly  marked  varieties,  perhaps 
deserving  to  be  called  species.  It  was  at  one  time  thought  to  be  the 
primitive  stock  of  all  our  domestic  breeds,  and  this  shows  that  it 
closely  approaches  the  common  fowl  in  general  structure ;  but  its 
hackles  partially  consist  of  highly  peculiar,  horny  laminae,  trans- 
versely banded  with  three  colours  ;  and  I  have  met  with  no  au- 
thentic account  of  any  such  character  having  been  observed  in  any 
domestic  breed."  This  species  also  differs  greatly  from  the  com- 
mon fowl,  in  the  comb  being  finely  serrated,  and  in  the  loins  being 
destitute  of  true  hackles.  Its  voice  is  utterly  different.  It  crosses 
readily  in  India  with  domestic  hens ;  and  Mr.  Blyth  M  raised  nearly 
100  hybrid  chickens  ;  but  they  were  tender  and  mostly  died  whilst 
young.  Those  which  were  reared  were  absolutely  sterile  when 
crossed  inter  se  or  with  either  parent.  At  the  Zoological  Gardens, 
however,  some  hybrids  of  the  same  parentage  wrere  not  quite  so 
sterile :  Mr.  Dixon,  as  he  informed  me,  made,  with  Mr.  Yarrell's 
aid,  particular  inquiri.es  on  this  subject,  and  was  assured  that  out 


12  'Proc  Zoloog.  Soc.'  1S32,  p.  151.  those  of  G.  Sonneratii,  except  that  the 

13  I  have  examined  the  feathers  of  hovny  lamina;  were  much  smaller, 
some  hybrids  raised  in  the  Zoological  l4  See  also  an  excellent  letter  on  the 
Gardens   between    the    male    G.    Son-  Poultry  of    India,    by    Mr.    Blyth,    in 
neratii  and -a  red  game-hen, 'and  these  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1351,  p.  619. 
feathers  exhibited  the  true  character  of 


284  FOWLS.  Chap.  TIL 

of  50  eggs  only  five  or  six  chickens  were  reared.  Some,  however, 
of  these  half-bred  birds  were  crossed  with  one  of  their  parents, 
namely,  a  Bantam,  and  produced  a  few  extremely  feeble  chickens. 
Mr.  Dixon  also  procured  some  of  these  same  birds  and  crossed  them 
in  several  ways,  but  all  were  more  or  less  infertile.  Nearly  similar 
experiments  have  recently  been  tried  on  a  great  scale  in  the  Zoolo- 
gical Gardens  with  almost  the  same  result.15  Out  of  500  eggs, 
raised  from  various  first  crosses  and  hybrids,  between  G.  Sonneratii, 
bankiva,  and  varius,  only  12  chickens  were  reared,  and  of  these  only 
three  were  the  product  of  hybrids  inter  se.  From  these  facts,  and 
from  the  above-mentioned  strongly-marked  differences  in  structure 
between  the  domestic  fowl  and  G.  Sonneratii,  we  may  reject  this 
latter  species  as  the  parent  of  any  domestic  breed. 

Ceylon  possesses  a  fowl  peculiar  to  the  island,  viz.  G.  Stanleyii ; 
this  species  approaches  so  closely  (except  in  the  colouring  of  the 
comb)  to  the  domestic  fowl,  that  Messrs.  E.  Layard  and  Kellaert I6 
would  have  considered  it,  as  they  inform  me,  as  one  of  the  parent- 
stocks,  had  it  not  been  for  its  singularly  different  voice.  This  bird, 
like  the  last,  crosses  readily  with  tame  hens,  and  even  visits  solitary 
farms  and  ravishes  them.  Two  hybrids,  a  male  and  female,  thus 
produced,  were  found  by  Mr.  Mitford  to  be  quite  sterile  :  both  in- 
herited the  peculiar  voice  of  G.  Stanleyii.  This  species,  then,  may 
in  all  probability  be  rejected  as  one  of  the  primitive  stocks  of  the 
domestic  fowl. 

Java  and  the  islands  eastward  as  far  as  Flores  are  inhabited  by 
G.  varius  (or  furcatus),  which  differs  in  so  many  characters — green 
plumage,  unserrated  comb,  and  single  median  wattle — that  no 
one  supposes  it  to  have  been  the  parent  of  any  one  of  our  breeds  ; 
yet,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Crawfurd, "  hybrids  are  commonly 
raised  between  the  male  G.  varius  and  the  common  hen,  and  are 
kept  for  their  great  beauty,  but  are  invariably  sterile ;  this,  how- 
ever, was  not  the  case  with  some  bred  in  the  Zoological  Gardens.  , 
These  hybrids  were  at  one  time  thought  to  be  specifically  distinct, 
and  were  named  G.  ceneus.  Mr.  Blyth  and  others  believe  that  the 
G.  Temminckii 1S  (of  which  the  history  is  not  known)  is  a  similar 
hybrid.  Sir  J.  Brooke  sent  me  some  skins  of  domestic  fowls  from 
Borneo,  and  across  the  tail  of  one  of  these,  as  Mr,  Tegetmeier  ob- 
served, there  were  transverse  blue  bands  like  those  which  he  had 


16  Mr.  S.  J.  Salter,  in  'Natural  His-  17  See  also  Mr.  Crawford's  '  Descrip- 
tor Review,'  April,  1863,  p.  276.  tive  Diet,  of  the  Indian  Islands,'  1S56, 

.18  See    also   Mr.  Layard's  paper    in  p.  113. 

'  Annals    and   Mag.  of   Nat.    History,'  18  Described     by   Mr.    G-.   R.   Gray, 

2nd  series,  vol.  xiv.  p.  62.  '  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.',  1S49,  p.  62. 


Cpip.  VII.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  285 

seen  on  the  tail-feathers  of  hybrids  from  O.  varius,  reared  in  the 
Zoological  Gardens.  This  fact  apparently  indicates  that  some  of 
the  fowls  of  Borneo  have  been  slightly  affected  by  crosses  with  O. 
vurius,  but  the  case  may  possibly  be  one  of  analogous  variation.  I. 
may  just  allude  to  the  O.  giganteus,  so  often  referred  to  in  works  on 
poultry  as  a  wild  species  ;  but  Marsden,19  the  first  describer,  speaks 
of  it  as  a  tame  breed ;  and  the  specimen  in  the  British  Museum 
evidently  has  the  aspect  of  a  domestic  variety. 

The  last  species  to  be  mentioned,  namely,  Oallus  bankiva,  has  a 
much  wider  geographical  range  than  the  three  previous  species  ;  it 
inhabits  Northern  India  as  far  west  as  Sinde,  and  ascends  the  Hi- 
malaya to  a  height  of  4000  ft. ;  it  inhabits  Burmah,  the  Malay  pe- 
ninsula, the  Indo-Chinese  countries,  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  the 
Malayan  archipelago  as  far  eastward  as  Timor.  This  species  varies 
considerably  in  the  wild  state.  Mr.'Blyth  informs  me  that  the  speci- 
mens, both  male  and  female,  brought  from  near  the  Himalaya,  are 
rather  paler  coloured  than  those  from  other  parts  of  India ;  whilst 
those  from  the  Malay  peninsula  and  Java  are  brighter  coloured  than 
the  Indian  birds.  I  have  seen  specimens  from  these  countries,  and 
the  difference  of  tint  in  the  hackles  was  conspicuous.  The  Malayan 
hens  were  a  shade  redder  on  the  breast  and  neck  than  the  Indian 
hens.  The  Malayan  males  generally  had  a  red  ear-lappet,  instead  of 
a  white  one  as  in  India  ;  but  Mr.  Blyth  has  seen  one  Indian  specimen 
without  the  white  ear-lappet.  The  legs  are  leaden  blue  in  the  Indi- 
an, whereas  they  show  some  tendency  to  be  yellowish  in  the  Malayan 
and  Javan  specimens.  In  the  former  Mr.  Blyth  finds  the  tarsus  re- 
markably variable  in  length.  According  to  Temminck  2°  the  Timor 
specimens  differ  as  a  local  race  from  that  of  Java.  These  several 
wild  varieties  have  not  as  yet  been  ranked  as  distinct  species ;  if 
they  should,  as  is  not  unlikely,  be  hereafter  thus  ranked,  the  cir- 
cumstance would  be  quite  immaterial  as  far  as  the  parentage  and  dif- 
ferences of  our  domestic  breeds  are  concerned.  The  wild  G.  bankiva 
agrees  most  closely  with  the  black-breasted  red  Game-breed,  in  co- 
louring and  in  all  other  respects,  except  in  being  smaller,  and  in  the 
tail  being  carried  more  horizontally.  But  the  manner  in  which  the 
tail  is  carried  is  highly  variable  in  many  of  our  breeds,  for,  as  Mr. 
Brent  informs  me,  the  tail  slopes  much  in  the  Malays,  is  erect  in 
the  Games  and  some  other  breeds,  and  is  more  than  erect  in  Dork- 
ings, Bantams,  &c.     There  is  one  other  difference,  namely,  that  in 


19  The    passage    from     Marsden    is  20  '  Coup-d'oeil    general    sur    l'lnde 

given    by  Mr.  Dixon   in    his   '  Poultry  Archipelagique,'  torn.  iii.  (1S49),  p.  177 ; 

Book,'  p.    176.    No   ornithologist   now  tee  also  Mr.  Blyth  in  '  Indian  Sporting 

ranks  this  bird  as  a  distinct  species.  Review,'  vol.  ii.  p.  5,  1S56. 


286  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

G.  bankiva,  according  to  Mr.  Blyth,  the  neck-hackles  when  first 
moulted  are  replaced  during  two  or  three  months,  not  by  other 
hackles,  as  with  our  domestic  poultry,  but  by  short  blackish  feath- 
ers.21 Mr.  Brent,  however,  has  remarked  that  these  black  feathers 
remain  in  the  wild  bird  after  the  development  of  the  lower  hackles, 
and  appear  in  the  domestic  bird  at  the  same  time  with  them ;  so 
that  the  only  difference  is  that  the  lower  hackles  are  replaced  more 
slowly  in  the  wild  than  in  the  tame  bird ;  but  as  confinement  is 
known  sometimes  to  affect  the  masculine  plumage,  this  slight  dif- 
ference cannot  be  considered  of  any  importance.  It  is  a  significant 
fact  that  the  voice  of  both  the  male  and  female  G.  bankiva  closely  re- 
sembles, as  Mr.  Blyth  and  others  have  noted,  the  voice  of  both  sexes 
of  the  common  domestic  fowl ;  but  the  last  note  of  the  crow  of  the 
wild  bird  is  rather  less  prolonged.  Captain  Hutton,  well  known  for 
his  researches  into  the  natural  history  of  India,  informs  me  that  he 
has  seen  several  crossed  fowls  from  the  wild  species  and  the  Chinese 
bantam ;  these  crossed  fowls  bred  freely  with  bantams,  but  unfortu- 
nately were  not  crossed  inter  se.  Captain  Hutton  reared  chickens 
from  the  eggs  of  the  Gallus  bankiva ;  and  these,  though  at  first 
very  wild,  afterwards  became  so  tame  that  they  would  crowd  round 
his  feet.  He  did  not  succeed  in  rearing  them  to  maturity ;  but,  as  he 
remarks, "  no  wild  gallinaceous  bird  thrives  well  at  first  on  hard 
grain."  Mr.  Blyth  also  found  much  difficulty  in  keeping  G.  bankiva 
in  confinement.  In  the  Philippine  Islands,  however,  the  natives 
must  succeed  better,  as  they  keep  wild  cocks  to  fightrwith  their  do- 
mestic game-birds.2'  Sir  Walter  Elliot  informs  me  that  the  hen  of 
a  native  domestic  breed  of  Pegu  is  undistinguishable  from  the  hen 
of  the  wild  G.  bankiva  ;  and  the  natives  constantly  catch  wild  cocks 
by  taking  tame  cocks  to  fight  with  them  in  the  woods.23  Mr.  Craw- 
f urd  remarks  that  from  etymology  it  might  be  argued  that  the  fowl 
was  first  domesticated  by  the  Malays  and  Javanese.24  It  is  also  a 
curious  fact,  of  which  I  have  been  assured  by  Mr.  Blyth,  that  wild 
specimens  of  the  Gallus  bankiva,  brought  from  the  countries  east  of 
the  Bay  of  Bengal,  are  far  more  easily  tamed  than  those  of  India ; 
nor  is  this  an  unparalleled  fact,  for,  as  Humboldt  long  ago  remarked, 
the  same  species  sometimes  evinces  a  more  tameable  disposition  in 
one  country  than  in  another.  If  we  suppose  that  the  G.  bankiva 
was  first  tamed  in  Malaya  and  afterwards  imported  into  India,  we 


.  S1  Mr.  Blyth,  in  'Annals  and  Mag.  of  Blyth,  the  wild  and  tame  poultry  con- 
Nat.  Hist.,'  2nd  ser.,  vol.  i.  (1S4S),  p.  455.  stantly   cross    together,    and    irregular 

22  Crawfurd.   '  Desc.  Diet,   of  Indian  transitional  forms  may  be  seen. 

Islands,'  1S56, 112.  "  Idem,  p.  113. 
23  In  Burmah,  as  I  hear  from  Mr. 


Chap.  VII.  THEIR    PARENTAGE.  287 

• 

can  understand  an  observation  made  to  me  by  Mr.  Blyth,  that  tbe 
domestic  fowls  of  India  do  not  resemble  the  Avild  G.  bankim  more 
closely  than  do  those  of  Europe. 

From  the  extremely  close  resemblance  in  colour,  general 
structure,  and  especially  in  voice,  between  Gallus  bcoiklva 
and  the  Game  fowl;  from  their  fertility,  as  far  as  this 
has  been  ascertained,  when  crossed;  from  the  possibility 
of  the  wild  species  being  tamed,  and  from  its  varying  in 
the  wild  state,  we  may  confidently  look  at  it  as  the  pa- 
rent of  the  most  typical  of  all  the  domestic  breeds,  namely, 
the  Game-fowl.  It  is  a  significant  fact,  that  almost  all 
the  naturalists  in  India,  namely,  Sir  W.  Elliot,  Mr.  S.  N. 
Ward,  Mr.  Layard,  Mr.  J.  C.  Jerdon,  and  Mr.  Blyth,26 
who  are  familiar  with  G.  bankiva,  believe  that  it  is  the 
parent  of  most  or  all  our  domestic  breeds.  But  even  if 
it  be  admitted  that  G.  banJciva  is  the  parent  of  the  Game 
breed,  yet  it  may  be  urged  that  other  wild  species  have 
been  the  parents  of  the  other  domestic  breeds ;  and  that 
these  species  still  exist,  though  unknown,  in  some  coun- 
try, or  have  become  extinct.  The  extinction,  however, 
of  several  species  of  fowls,  is  an  improbable  hypothesis, 
seeing  that  the  four  known  species  have  not  become  ex- 
tinct in  the  most  anciently  and  thickly  peopled  regions  of 
the  East.  There  is,  in  fact,  only  one  kind  of  domesticated 
bird,  namely,  the  Chinese  goose  or  Anser  cygnoides,  of 
which  the  wild  parent-form  is  said  to  be  still  unknown, 
or  extinct.  For  the  discovery  of  new,  or  the  rediscovery 
of  old  species  of  Gallus,  we  must  not  look,  as  fanciers 
often  look,  to  the  whole  world.  The  larger  gallinaceous 
birds,  as  Mr.  Blyth  has  remarked,20  generally  have  a  re- 
stricted range  ;  we  see  this  well  illustrated  in  India,  where 
the  genus  Gallus  inhabits  the  base  of  the  Himalaya,  and 


56  Mr.  Jerdon,  in  the  'Madras  Journ.  Blyth,  see  his  excellent  article  in  •  Gar- 

of  Lit.   and  Science,'  vol.   xxii.   p.    2,  dener's  Cbron.'  1351,   p.    619;    and  in 

speaking  of  G.  bankiva,  says,  "unques-  'Annals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.   Hist.,'  vol. 

tionably  the  origin  of  most  of  the  va-  xx.,  1S47,  p.  3S8. 

rieties  of  our  common  fowls."    For  Mr.  S8  'Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1851, p.  619. 


288  FOWLS.  Ceap.  VII. 

• 

is  succeeded  higher  up  by  Gallophasis,  and  still  higher 
up  by  Phasianus.  Australia,  with  its  islands,  is  out  of 
the  question  as  the  home  for  unknown  species  of  the 
genus.  It  is,  also,  as  improbable  that  Gallus  should  in- 
habit South  America 27  as  that  a  humming-bird  should  be 
found  in  the  old  world.  From  the  character  of  the  other 
gallinaceous  birds  of  Africa,  it  is  not  probable  that  Gal- 
lus is  an  African  genus.  We  need  not  look  to  the  west- 
ern parts  of  Asia,  for  Messrs.  Blyth  and  Crawfurd,  who 
have  attended  to  this  subject,  doubt  whether  Gallus  ever 
existed  in  a  wild  state  even  as  far  west  as  Persia.  Al- 
though the  earliest  Greek  writers  speak  of  the  fowl  as  a 
Persian  bird,  this  probably  merely  indicates  its  line  of 
importation.  For  the  discovery  of  unknown  species  we 
must  look  to  India,  to  the  Indo-Chinese  countries,  and  to 
the  northern  parts  of  the  Malay  Archipelago.  The  south- 
ern portion  of  China  is  the  most  likely  country ;  but  as 
Mr.  Blyth  informs  me,  skins  have  been  exported  from 
China  during  a  long  period,  and  living  birds  are  largely 


27  I  have  consulted  an  eminent  autho-  wild,  and  had  "  a  cry  quite  different  to 

rity,  Mr.  Sclater,  on  this  subject,  and  he  that  of  the  domestic  fowl,"  and  their  ap- 

thinks  that  I  have  not  expressed  myself  pearance  was  somewhat  changed.    Hence 

too  strongly.    I  am  aware  that  one  an-  it  is  not  a  little  doubtful,  notwithstand- 

cient  author,  Acosta,  speaks  of  fowls  as  ing  the  statement  of  the  natives,  wheth- 

having  inhabited  S.  America  at  the  pe-  er  these  birds  really  were  fowls.    That 

riod  of  its  discovery ;  and  more  recently,  the  fowl  has  become  feral  on  several  is- 

about  1795,  Olivier  de  Serres  speaks  of  lands  is  certain.     Mr.  Fry,  a  very  capa- 

wikl    fowls  in    the  forests  of  Guiana ;  ble  judge,  informed  Mr.  Layard,  in  a  let- 

these  were  probably  feral  birds.      Dr.  ter,  that  the  fowls  which  have  run  wild 

Daniell  tells  me,  he  believes  that  fowl3  on  Ascension  "  had  nearly  all  got  back 

have  become  wild  on  the  west  coast  of  to  their  primitive  colours,  red  and  black 

Equatorial  Africa;  they  may,  however,  cocks,  and  smoky-grey  hens."    But  un- 

not  be  true  fowls,  but  gallinaceous  birds  fortunately  we  do  not  know  the  Colour 

belonging  to  the  genus  Phasidus.    The  of  the  poultry  which  were  turned  out. 

old  voyager  Barbut  says  that  poultry  Fowls  have  become  feral  on  the  Nicobar 

are  not  natural  to   Guinea.     Capt.  W.  Islands  (Blyth  in  the    '  Indian  Field,' 

Allen  ('  Narrative  of  Niger  Expedition,'  1S58,  p.  62),  and  in  the  Ladrones  (An- 

1848,  vol.  ii.  p.  42)  describes  wild  fowls  son's  Voyage).     Those  found  in  the  Pel- 

on  Ilha  dos  Rollas,  an  island  near  St.  lew  Islands  (Crawfurd)  are  believed  to 

Thomas's,  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa :  be  feral ;  and  lastly,  it  is  asserted  that 

the  natives  informed  him  that  they  had  they  have  become  feral  in  New  Zealand, 

escaped  from   a  vessel   wrecked   there  but  whether  this  is  correct  I  know  not. 
many  years  ago;   they  were  extremely 


Chap.  VII.  TIIEIK    TARENTAGE.  289 

kept  there  in  aviaries,  so  that  any  native  species  of  Gal- 
lus  would  probably  have  become  knowli.  Mr.  Birch,  of 
the  British  Museum,  has  translated  for  me  passages  from 
a  Chinese  Encyclopaedia  published  in  1609,  but  compiled 
from  more  ancient  documents,  in  which  it  is  said  that 
fowls  are  creatures  of  the  West,  and  were  introduced 
into  the  East  (i.e.  China)  in  a  dynasty  1400  b.c.  What- 
ever may  be  thought  of  so  ancient  a  date,  we  see  that  the 
Indo-Chinese  and  Indian  regions  were  formerly  consider- 
ed by  the  Chinese  as  the  source  of  the  domestic  fowl. 
From  these  several  considerations  we  must  look  to  the 
present  metropolis  of  the  genus,  namely,  to  the  south- 
eastern parts  of  Asia,  for  the  discovery  of  species  wrhich 
were  formerly  domesticated,  but  are  now  unknowm  in  the 
Avild  state ;  and  the  most  experienced  ornithologists  do 
not  consider  it  probable  that  such  species  will  be  dis- 
covered. 

In  considering  whether  the  domestic  breeds  are  de- 
scended from  one  species^  namely,  G.  bankiva,  or  from 
several,  we  must  not  quite  overlook,  though  we  must  not 
exaggerate,  the  importance  of  the  test  of  fertility.  Most 
of  our  domestic  breeds  have  been  so  often  crossed,  and 
their  mongrels  so  largely  kept,  that  it  is  almost  certain, 
if  any  degree  of  infertility  had  existed  between  them,  it 
would  have  been  detected.  On  the  other  hand,  the  four 
known  species  of  Gallus  when  crossed  with  each  other, 
or  when  crossed,  with  the  exception  of  G.  banJciva,  with 
the  domestic  fowl,  produce  infertile  hybrids. 

Finally,  we  have  not  such  good  evidence  with  fowls  as 
with  pigeons,  of  all  the  breeds  having  descended  from  a 
single  primitive  stock.  In  both  cases  the  argument  of 
fertility  must  go  for  something ;  in  both  wre  have  the  im- 
probability of  man  having  succeeded  in  ancient  times 
in  thoroughly  domesticating  several  supposed  species, — 
most  of  these  supposed  species  being  extremely  abnormal 
as  compared  writh  their  natural  allies, — all  being  now 
either  unknown  or  extinct,  though  the  parent-form  ot 
13 


290  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII 

scarcely  any  other  domesticated  bird  has  been  lost'.  But 
in  searching  for  the  supposed  parent-stocks  of  the  various 
breeds  of  the  pigeon,  we  were  enabled  to  confine  our 
search  to  species  having  peculiar  habits  of  life  ;  whilst 
with  fowls  there  is  nothing  in  their  habits  in  any  marked 
manner  distinct  from  those  of  other  gallinaceous  birds. 
In  the  case  of  pigeons,  I  have  shown  that  purely-bred 
birds  of  every  race  and  the  crossed  offspring  of  distinct 
races  frequently  resemble,  or  revert  to,  the  wild  rock- 
pigeon  in  general  colour  and  in  each  characteristic  mark. 
With  fowls  we  have  facts  of  jx  similar  nature,  but  less 
strongly  pronounced,  which  we  will  now  discuss. 

Reversion  and  Analogous  Variation.  —  Purely-bred 
Game,  Malay,  Cochin,  Dorking,  Bantam,  and,  as  I  hear 
from  Mr.  Tegetmeier,  Silk  fowls,  may  frequently  or  occa^ 
sionally  be  met  with,  which  are  almost  identical  in  plu- 
mage with  the  wild  G.  banJciva.  This  is  a  fact  well  de- 
serving attention,  when  we  reflect  that  these  breeds  rank 
amongst  the  most  distinct.  Fowls  thus  coloured  are 
called  by  amateurs  black-breasted  reds.  Hamburghs 
properly  have  a  very  different  plumage  ;  nevertheless,  as 
Mr.  Tegetmeier  informs  me,  "  the  great  difficulty  in  breed- 
ing cocks  of  the  golden-spangled  variety  is  their  tenden- 
cy to  have  black  breasts  and  red  backs."  The  males 
of  white  Bantams  and  white  Cochins,  as  they  come  to 
maturity,  often  assume  a  yellowish  or  saffron  tinge ;  and 
the  longer  neck  hackles  of  black  bantam  cocks,28  when 
two  or  three  years  old,  not  uncommonly  become  ruddy ; 
these  latter  bantams  occasionally  "  even  moult  brassy 
winged,  or  actually  red  shouldered."  So  that  in  these 
several  cases  we  see  a  plain  tendency  to  reversion  to  the 
hues  of  G.  barikiva,  even  dui-ing  the  lifetime  of  the  indi- 
vidual bird.  With  Spanish,  Polish,  pencilled  Hamburgh, 
silver-spangled  Hamburgh  fowls,  and  with  some  other 


as  Mr.  Hewitt,  in  '  The  Poultry  Book,'  by  W.  B.  Tegetmeier,  1SC6,  p.  243. 


Chap.  VII.  REVERSION    AND    VARIATION".  291 

less  common  breeds,  I  have  never  heard  of  a  black-breast- 
ed red  bird  having  appeared. 

From  my  experience  with  pigeons,  I  made  the  follow- 
ing crosses.  I  first  killed  all  my  own  poultry,  no  others 
living  near  my  house,  and  then  procured,  by  Mr.  Teget- 
meier's  assistance,  a  first-rate  black  Spanish  cock,  and 
hens  of  the  following  pure  breeds, — white  Game,  white 
Cochin,  silver-spangled  Polish,  silver-spangled  Hamburgh, 
silver-pencilled  Hamburgh,  and  white  Silk.  In  none  of 
these  breeds  is  there  a  trace  of  red,  nor  when  kept  pure 
have  I  ever  heard  of  the  appearance  of  a  red  feather ; 
though  such  an  occurrence  would  perhaps  not  be  very 
improbable  with  white  Games  and  white  Cochins.  Of 
the  many  chickens  reared  from  the  above  six  crosses  the 
majority  were  black,  both  in  the  down  and  in  the  first 
plumage  ;  some  were  white,  and  a  very  few  were  mottled 
black  and  white.  In  one  lot  of  eleven  mixed  eggs  from 
the  white  Game  and  white  Cochin  by  the  black  Spanish 
cock,  seven  of  the  chickens  were  white,  and  only  four 
black  :  I  mention  this  fact  to  show  that  whiteness  of  plu- 
mage is  strongly  inherited,  and  that  the  belief  in  the  pre- 
potent power  in  the  male  to  transmit  his  colour,  is  not 
always  correct.  The  chickens  were  hatched  in  the  spring, 
and  in  the  latter  part  of  August  several  of  the  young 
cocks  began  to  exhibit  a  change,  which  with  some  of 
them  increased  during  the  following  years.  Thus  a  young 
male  bird  from  the  silver-spangled  Polish  hen  was  in  its 
first  plumage  coal-black,  and  combined  in  its  comb,  crest, 
wattle,  and  beard,  the  characters  of  both  parents ;  but 
when  two  years  old  the  secondary  wing-feathers,  became 
largely  and  symmetrically  marked  with  white,  and 
wherever  in  G.  bankiva  the  hackles  are  red,  they  were 
in  this  bird  greenish-black  along  the  shaft,  narrowly 
bordered  with  brownish-black,  and  this  again  broadly 
bordered  with  very  pale  yellowish-brown ;  so  that  in 
general  appearance  the  plumage  had  become  pale-colour- 
ed instead  of  black.     In  this  case,  with  advancing  age 


292  fowls. 


Chap.  VtT. 


there  was  a  great  change,  hut  no  reversion  to  the  red 

colour  of  G.  bankiva. 

A  cock  with  a  regular  rose  comb  derived  either  from 
the  spangled  or  pencilled  silver  Hamburgh  was  likewise 
at  first  quite  black;  but  in  less  than  a  year  the  neck- 
hackles,  as  in  the  last  case,  became  whitish,  whilst  those 
on  the  loins  assumed  a  decided  reddish-yellow  tint ;  and 
here  we  see  the  first  symptom  of  reversion ;  this  likewise 
occurred  with  some  other  young  cocks,  which  need  not 
here  be  described.  It  has  also  been  recorded i9  by  a 
breeder,  that  he  crossed  two  silver-pencilled  Hamburgh 
hens  with  a  Spanish  cock,  and  reared  a  number  of  chick- 
ens, all  of  which  were  black,  the  cocks  having  (/olden  and 
the  hens  brownish  hackles  ;  so  that  in  this  instance  like- 
wise there  was  a  clear  tendency  to  reversion. 

Two  young  cocks  from  my  white  Game  hen  were  at 
first  snow  white ;  of  these,  one  subsequently  assumed 
pale  orange-coloured  hackles,  chiefly  on  the  loins,  and 
the  other  an  abundance  of  fine  orange-red  hackles  on  the 
neck,  loins,  and  upper  wing-coverts.  Here  again  we 
have  a  more  decided,  though  partial,  reversion  to  the 
colours*  of  G.  banfciva.  This  second  cock  was  in  fact 
coloured  like  an  inferior  "  pile  Game  cock  ;" — now  this 
sub-breed  can  be  produced,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Te- 
getmeier,  by  crossing  a  black-breasted  red  Game  cock  with 
a  white  Game  hen,  and  the  u  pile"  sub-breed  thus  pro- 
duced can  afterwards  be  truly  propagated.  So  that  we 
have  the  curious  fact  of  the  glossy-black  Spanish  cock 
and  the  black-breasted  red  Game  cock  when  crossed  with 
white  Game-hens  producing  offspring  of  nearly  the  same 
colours. 

.  I  reared  several  birds  from  the  white  Silk-hen  by  the 
Spanish  cock :  all  were  coal-black,  and  all  plainly  showed 
their  parentage  in  having  blackish  combs  and  bones ; 
none  inherited  the  so-called  silky  feathers,  and  the  non- 


*»  '  Journal  of  Horticulture,'  Jan.  14th,  1862,  p.  825. 


Chap.  VII.  REVERSION    AND    VARIATION.  293 

inheritance  of  this  chavacter  has  been  observed  by  others. 
The  hens  never  varied  in  their  plumage.  As  the  young 
cocks  grew  old,  one  of  them  assumed  yellowish-white 
hackles,  and  thus  resembled  in  a  considerable  degree  the 
cross  from  the  Hamburgh  hen  ;  the  other  became  a  gor- 
geous bird,  so  much  so  that  an  acquaintance  had  it  pre- 
served and  stuffed  simply  from  its  beauty.  When  stalk- 
ing about  it  closely  resembled  the  wild  Gallus  bankiva, 
but  with  the  red  feathers  rather  darker.  On  close  com- 
parison one  considerable  difference  presented  itself, 
namely,  that  the  primary  and  secondary  wing-feathers 
were  edged  with  greenish-black,  instead  of  being  edged, 
as  in  G.  bankiva,  with  fulvous  and  red  tints.  The  space, 
also,  across  the  back,  which  bears  dark-green  feathers, 
was  broader,  and  the  comb  was  blackish.  In  all  other 
respects,  even  in  trifling  details  of  plumage,  there  was 
the  closest  accordance.  Altogether  it  was  a  marvellous 
sight  to  compare  this  bird  first  with  G.  bankiva,  and 
then  with  its  father,  the  glossy  green-black  Spanish  cock, 
and  with  its  diminutive  mother,  the  white  Silk  hen.  This 
case  of  reversion  is  the  more  extraordinary  as  the  Span- 
ish breed  has  long  been  known  to  breed  true,  and  no  in- 
stance is  on  record  of  its  throwing  a  single  red  feather. 
The  Silk  hen  likewise  breeds  true,  and  is  believed  to  be 
ancient,  for  Aldrovandi,  before  1600,  alludes  probably  to 
this  breed,  and  describes  it  as  covered  with  wool.  It  is 
so  peculiar  in  many  characters  that  some  writers  have 
considered  it  as  specifically  distinct ;  yet,  as  we  now  see, 
when  crossed  with  the  Spanish  fowl,  it  yields  offspring 
closely  resembling  the  wild  G.  bankiva. 

Mr.  Tegetmeier  has  been  so  kind  as  to  repeat,  at  my 
request,  the  cross  between  a  Spanish  cock  and  Silk  hen, 
and  he  obtained  similar  results  ;  for  he  thus  raised,  be- 
sides a  black  hen,  seven  cocks,  all  of  which  were  dark- 
bodied  with  more  or  less  orange-red  hackles.  In  the 
ensuing  year  he  paired  the  black  hen  with  one  of  her 
brothers,  and  raised  three  young  cocks,  all  coloured  like 
their  father,  and  a  black  hen  mottled  with  white. 


294  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

The  hens  from  the  six  above-described  crosses  showed 
hardly  any  tendency  to  revert  to  the  mottled-brown 
plumage  of  the  female  G.  banklva '■:  one  hen,  however, 
from  the  white  Cochin,  which  was  at  first  coal-black,  be- 
came slightly  brown  or  sooty.  Several  hens,  which  were 
for  a  long  time  snow-white,  acquired  as  they  grew  old  a 
few  black  feathers.  A  hen  from  the  white  Game,  which 
was  for  a  long  time  entirely  black  glossed  with  green, 
when  two  years  old  had  some  of  the  primary  wing-feathers 
greyish-white,  and  a  multitude  of  feathers  over  her  body 
narrowly  and  symmetrically  tipped  or  laced  with  white. 
I  had  expected  that  some  of  the  chickens  whilst  covered 
with  down  would  have  assumed  the  longitudinal  stripes 
so  general  with  gallinaceous  birds  ;  but  this  did  not  occur 
in  a  single  instance.  Two  or  three  alone  were  reddish- 
brown  about  their  heads.  I  was  unfortunate  in  losing 
nearly  all  the  white  chickens  from  the  first  crosses  ;  so 
that  black  prevailed  with  the  grandchildren  ;  but  they 
were  much  diversified  in  colour,  some  being  sooty,  others 
mottled,  and  one  blackish  chicken  had  its  feathers  oddly 
tipped  and  barred  with  brown. 

I  will  here  add  a  few  miscellaneous  facts  connected 
with  reversion,  and  with  the  law  of  analogous  variation. 
This  law  implies,  as  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  that 
the  varieties  of  one  species  frequently  mock  distinct  but 
allied  species ;  and  this  fact  is  explained,  according  to 
the  views  which  I  maintain,  on  the  principle  of  allied 
species  having  descended  from  one  primitive  form.  The 
white  Silk  fowl  with  black  skin  and  bones  degenerates, 
as  has  been  observed  by  Mr.  Hewitt  and  Mr.  R.  Orton, 
in  our  climate ;  that  is,  it  reverts  to  the  ordinary  colour 
of  the  common  fowl  in  its  skin  and  bones,  due  care 
having  been  taken  to  prevent  any  cross.     In  Germany 3* 


80  '  Die    Huhner    und    Pfauenzucht.'  meicr,  1866,  p.  222.    I  am  indebted  to 

Ulm,  1S27,  s.  17.     For  Mr.  Hewitt's  state-  Mr.  Orton  for  a  letter  on  the  same  sub- 

ment  with  respect  to  the  white  Silk  fowl,  ject. 
see  the  'Poultry  Book,'  by  W.  B.  Tesret- 


Ch  p.  mi.  REVERSION   AND    VARIATION.  295 

B  distinct  breed  with  black  bones,  and  with  black,  not 
silky  plumage,  has  likewise  been  observed  to  degen- 
erate. 

Mr.  Tegetmeier  informs  me  that,  when  distinct  breeds 
are  crossed,  fowls  are  frequently  produced  with  their 
feathers  marked  or  pencilled  by  narrow  transverse  lines 
of  a  darker  colour.  This  may  be  in  part  explained  by 
direct  reversion  to  the  parent-form,  the  Bankiva  hen ; 
for  this  bird  has  all  its  upper  plumage  finely  mottled 
with  dark  and  rufous  brown,  with  the  mottling  partially 
and  obscurely  arranged  in  transverse  lines.  But  the 
tendency  to  pencilling  is  probably  much  strengthened 
by  the  law  of  analogous  variation,  for  the  hens  of  some 
other  species  of  Gallns  are  much  more  plainly  pencilled, 
and  the  hens  of  many  gallinaceous  birds  belonging  to 
other  genera,  as  the  partridge,  have  pencilled  feathers. 
Mr.  Tegetmeier  has  also  remarked  to  me,  that,  although 
with  domestic  pigeons  we  have  so  great  a  diversity  of 
colouring,  we  never  see  either  pencilled  or  spangled 
feathers;  and  this  fact  is  intelligible  on  the  law  of  ana- 
logous variation,  as  neither  the  wild  rock-pigeon  nor  any 
closely-allied  species*  has  such  feathers.  The  frequent 
appearance  of  pencilling  in  crossed  birds  probably  ac- 
counts for  the  existence  of  "  cuckoo"  sub-breeds  in  the 
Game,  Polish,  Dorking,  Cochin,  Andalusian,  and  Bantam 
breeds.  The  plumage  of  these  birds  is  slaty-blue  or 
grey,  with  each  feather  transversely  barred  with  darker 
lines,  so  as  to  resemble  in  some  degree  the  plumage  of 
the  cuckoo.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  considering  that  the 
male  of  no  species  of  Gallus  is  in  the  least  barred,  that 
the  cuckoo-like  plumage  has  often  been  transferred  to 
the  male,  more  especially  in  the  cuckoo  Dorking ;  and 
the  fact  is  all  the  more  singular,  as  in  gold  and  silver 
pencilled  Hamburghs,  in  which  pencilling  is  character- 
istic of  the  breed,  the  male  is  hardly  at  all  pencilled, 
this  kind  of  plumage  being  confined  to  the  female. 

Another  case  of  analogous  variation  is  the  occurrence 


296  FOWLS.  Chap.  VH. 

of  spangled  sub-breeds  of  Hamburgh,  Polish,  Malay,  and 
Bantam  fowls.  Spangled  feathers  have  a  dark  mark, 
properly  crescent-shaped,  on  their  tips;  whilst  pencilled 
feathers  have  several  transverse  bars.  The  spangling 
cannot  be  due  to  reversion  to  G.  bankiva ;  nor  does  it 
often  follow,  as  I  hear  from  Mr.  Tegetmeier,  from  cross- 
ing distinct  breeds;  but  it  is  a  case  of  analogous  varia- 
tion, for  many  gallinaceous  birds  have  spangled  feathers, 
— for  instance,  the  common  pheasant.  Hence  spangled 
breeds  are  often  called  "  pheasant  "-fowls.  Another  case 
of  analogous  variation  in  several  domestic  breeds  is  in- 
explicable ;  it  is,  that  the  chickens,  whilst  covered  with 
down,  of  the  black  Spanish,  black  Game,  black  Polish, 
and  black  Bantam,  all  have  white  throats  and  breasts, 
and  often  have  some  white  on  their  wings.31  The  editor 
of  the  '  Poultry  Chronicle' 32  remarks  that  all  the  breeds 
which  properly  have  red  ear-lappets  occasionally  produce 
birds  with  white  ear-lappets.  This  remark  more  especial- 
ly applies  to  the  Game  breed,  which  of  all  comes  nearest 
to  the  G.  bankiva;  and  we  have  seen  that  with  this 
species  living  in  a  state  of  nature,  the  ear-lappets  vary 
in  colour,  being  red  in  the  Malayan,  countries,  and  gen- 
erally, but  not  invariably,  white  in  India. 

In  concluding  this  part  of  my  subject  I  may  repeat 
that  there  exists  one  widely-ranging,  varying,  and  com- 
mon species  of  Gallus,  namely  G.  bankiva,  which  can  be 
tamed,  produces  fertile  offspring  when  crossed  with  com- 
mon fowls,  and  closely  resembles  in  its  whole  structure, 
plumage,  and  voice  the  Game  breed;  hence  it  may  be 
safely  ranked  as  the  parent  of  this,  the  most  typical  do- 
mesticated breed.  We  have  seen  that  there  is  much  diffi- 
culty in  believing  that  other,  now  unknown,  species  have 
been  the  parents  of  the  other  domestic  breeds.     We  know 


31  Dixon,  '  Ornamental  and  Domestic        p.  260. 
Poultry,'  pp.  253,  324,  335.     For  game  3»  '  Poultry  Chronicle,'  vol.  ii.  p.  TL 

fowls,  see  Ferguson  on  '  Prize  Poultry,' 


Chap.  VII.  REVERSION    AND    VARIATION.  297 

that  all  the  breeds  are  most  closely  allied,  as  shown  by 
their  similarity  in  most  points  of  structure  and  in  habits, 
and  by  the  analogous  manner  in  which  they  vary.  We 
have  also  seen  that  several  of  the  most  distinct  breeds 
occasionally  or  habitually  closely  resemble  in  plumage  G. 
ba>ikiva,  and  that  the  crossed  offspring  of  other  breeds, 
which  are  not  thus  coloured,  show  a  stronger  or  weaker 
tendency  to  revert  to  this  same  plumage.  Some  of  the 
breeds,  which  appear  the  most  distinct  and  the  least  likely 
to  have  proceeded  from  G.  bankiva,  such  as  Polish  fowls, 
with  their  protuberant  and  little  ossified  skulls,  and  Co- 
chins, with  their  imperfect  tail  and  small  wings,  bear  in 
these  characters  the  plain  marks  of  their  artificial  origin. 
We  know  well  that  of  late  years  methodical  selection  has 
greatly  impi-oved  and  fixed  many  characters ;  and  we  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  unconscious  selection,  carried 
on  for  many  generations,  will  have  steadily  augmented 
each  new  peculiarity  and  thus  have  given  rise  to  new 
breeds.  As  soon  as  two  or  three  breeds  had  once  been 
formed,  crossing  would  come  into  play  in  changing  their 
character  and  in  increasing  their  number.  Brahma  Poo- 
tras,  according  to  an  account  lately  published  in  America, 
offer  a  good  instance  of  a  breed,  lately  formed  by  a  cross, 
which  can  be  truly  propagated.  The  well-known  Sebright 
Bantams  offer  another  and  similar  instance.  Hence  it 
maybe  concluded  that  not  only  the  Game-breed  but  that 
all  our  breeds  are  probably  the  descendants  of  the  Ma- 
layan or  Indian  variety  of  G.  bankiva.  If  so,  this  species 
has  varied  greatly  since  it  was  first  domesticated;  but 
there  has  been  ample  time,  as  we  shall  now  show. 

History  of  the  Foicl. — Riitimeyer  found  no  remains  of 
the  fowl  in  the  ancient  Swiss  lake-dwellings.  It  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament ;  nor  is  it  figured  on  the 
ancient  Egyptian  monuments.33     It  is  not  referred  to  by 


»'  Dr.  Pickering,  In  his  '  Races  of  Man,'  cession  to  Thoutmousis  III.  (1445  B.C.)  ; 

1850,  p.  874,  says  that  the  head  and  neck  but  Mr.  Birch   of  the   British   Museum 

of  a  fowl  is  carried  In  a  Tribute-pro-  doubts  whether  the  figure  can  be  iden- 

13* 


298  FOWLS.  Ceap.  VII. 

Homer  or  Hesiod  (about  900  b.c.)  ;  but  is  mentioned  by 
Theognis  and  Aristophanes  between  400  and  500  b.c.  It 
is  figured  on  some  of  the  Babylonian  cylinders,  of  which 
Mr.  Layard  sent  me  an  impression,  between  the  sixth  and 
seventh  centuries  b.c.  ;  and  on  the  Harpy  Tomb  in  Lycia, 
about  600  b.c  :  so  that  we  may  feel  pretty  confident  that 
the  fowl  reached  Europe  somewhere  near  the  sixth  century 
b.c  It  had  travelled  still  farther  westward  by  the  time 
of  the  Christian  era,  for  it  was  found  in  Britain  by  Julius 
Cresar.  In  India  it  must  have  been  domesticated  when 
the  Institutes  of  Manu  were  written,  that  is,  according  to 
Sir  W.  Jones,  1200  b.c,  but,  according  to  the  later  au- 
thority of  Mr.  H.  Wilson,  only  800  b.c,  for  the  domestic 
fowl  is  forbidden,  whilst  the  wild  is  permitted  to  be  eaten. 
If,  as  before  remarked,  we  may  trust  the  old  Chinese  En- 
cyclopaedia, the  fowl  must  have  been  domesticated  several 
centuries  earlier,  as  it  is  said  to  have  been  introduced 
from  the  West  into  China  1400  b.c 

Sufficient  materials  do  not  exist  for  tracing  the  history 
of  the  separate  breeds.  About  the  commencement  of 
the  Christian  era,  Columella  mentions  a  five-toed  fighting 
breed,  and  some  provincial  breeds ;  but  we  know  nothing 
more  about  them.  He  also  alludes  to  dwarf  fowls  ;  but 
these  cannot  have  been  the  same  with  our  Bantams, 
which,  as  Mr.  Crawfurd  has  shown,  were  imported  from 
Japan  into  Bantam  in  Java.     A  dwarf  fowl,  probably  the 


tified  as  the  head  of  a  fowl.     Some  cau-  '  Beitrage  zur  Culturgescbichte,'  1S52,  s. 

tion  is  necessary  with  reference  to  the  77  ;  and  Isid.  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire,  '  Hist, 

absence  of   figures  of   the  fowl  on  the  Nat.  Gen.,' torn.  iii.  p.  61.     Mr.  Crawfurd 

ancient  Egyptian  monuments,  on  account  has  given  an  admirable  history  of  the 

of  the  strong  and  widely  prevalent  pre-  fowl  in  his  paper  '  On  the  Relation  of 

judice  against  this  bird.     I  am  informed  Domesticated  Animals  -to  Civilization,' 

by  the  Rev.  S.  Erhardt  that  on  the  east  read  before  the  Brit.  Assoc,  at  Oxford  in 

coast  of  Africa,  from  4°  to  6°  south  of  the  1860,  and  since  printed   separately.     I 

equator,  most  of  the  pagan  tribes  at  the  quote  from  him  on  the  Greek  poet  The- 

present  day  hold  the  fowl  in  aversion.  ognis,  and  on  the  Harpy  Tomb  described 

The  natives  of  the  Pellew  Islands  would  by  Sir.  C.  Fellowes.     I  quote  from  a  letter 

not  eat  the  fowl,  nor  will  the  Indians  in  of  Mr.  Blyth's  with  respect  to  the  Insti- 

Bome  parts  of  S.  America.     For  the  an-  tutes  of  Manu. 
cient  history  of  the  fowl,  see  also  Volz, 


Chap.  VII.  TIIE1K    HISTORY.  299 

true  Bantam,  is  referred  to  in  an  old  Japanese  Encyclo- 
paedia, as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Birch.     In  the  Chinese  En- 
cyclopaedia, published  in  1596,  but  compiled  from  various 
sources,  some  of  high  antiquity,  seven  breeds  are  mention- 
ed, including  what  Ave  should  now  call  jumpers  or  creepers, 
and  likewise  fowls  with  black  feathers,  bones,  and  flesh. 
In  1600  Aldrovandi  describes  seven  or  eight  breeds  of 
fowls,  and  this  is  the  most  ancient  record  from  which  the 
age  of  our  European  breeds  can  be  inferred.     The  Gall  us 
Turcicus  certainly  seems  to  be  a  pencilled  Hamburgh  ; 
but  Mr.  Brent,  a  most  capable  judge,  thinks  that  Aldro- 
vandi "  evidently  figured  what  he  happened  to  see,  and 
not  the  best  of  the  breed."     Mr.  Brent,  indeed,  considers 
all  Aldrovandi's  fowls  as  of  impure  breed ;  but  it  is  a  far 
more  probable  view  that  all  our  breeds  since  his  time 
have  been  much  improved  and  modified  ;  for,  as  he  went 
to  the  expense  of  so  many  figures,  he  probably  would 
have  secured  characteristic  specimens.     The  Silk   fowl, 
however,  probably  then  existed  in  its  present  state,  as  did 
almost  certainly  the  fowl  with  frizzled  or  reversed  feath- 
ers.    Mr.  Dixon  34  considers  Aldrovandi's  Paduan  fowl  as 
"  a  variety  of  the  Polish,"  whereas  Mr.  Brent  believes  it 
to  have  been  more  nearly  allied  to  the  Malay.     The  ana- 
tomical peculiarities  of  the  skull  of  the  Polish  breed  were 
noticed  by  P.  Boi*elli  in  1656.     I  may  add  that  in  1737 
one   Polish   sub-breed,   viz.   the   golden   spangled,   was 
known  ;  but  judging  from  Albin's  description,  the  comb 
was  then  larger,  the  crest  of  feathers  much  smaller,  the 
breast  more  coarsely  spotted,  and  the  stomach  and  thighs 
much    blacker:    a  golden-spangled   Polish  fowl   in  this 
condition  would  now  be  of  no  value. 

Differences  in  External  and  Internal  Structure  between 
the  Breeds :  Individual  Variability. — Fowls  have  been 
exposed  to  diversified  conditions  of  life,  and  as  we  have 


34 'Ornamental  and  Domestic  Poul-  Golden'  Hamburghs,  see  Albin's  '  Natu- 
try,'  184T,  p.  185;  for  passages  trans-  ral  History  of  Birds,'  3  vols.,  with  plates, 
lated  from  Columella,  see  p.   312.     For        1731-38. 


300  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

just  seen  there  has  been  ample  time  for  much  variability 
and  for  the  slow  action  of  unconscious  selection.  As 
there  are  good  grounds  for  believing  that  all  the  breeds 
are  descended  from  Galhfe  bankiva,  it  will  be  worth 
while  to  describe  in  some  detail  the  chief  points  of  dif- 
ference. Beginning  with  the  eggs  and  chickens,  I  Avill 
pass  on  to  the  secondary  sexual  characters,  and  then  to 
the  differences  in  external  structure  and  in  the  skeleton. 
I  enter  on  the  following  details  chiefly  to  show  how  va- 
riable almost  every  character  has  become  under  domesti- 
cation. 

Eggs. — Mr.  Dixon  remarks 35  that  "  to  every  hen  belongs  an  indi- 
vidual peculiarity  in  the  form,  colour,  and  size  of  her  egg,  which 
never  changes  during  her  life-time,  so  long  as  she  remains  in  health, 
and  which  is  as  well  known  to  those  who  are  in  the  habit  of  taking 
her  produce,  as  the  handwriting  of  their  nearest  acquaintance."  I 
believe  that  this  is  generally  true,  and  that,  if  no  great  number  of 
hens  be  kept,  the  eggs  of  each  can  almost  always  be  recognised. 
The  eggs  of  differently  sized  breeds  naturally  differ  much  in  size-; 
but,  apparently,  not  always  in  strict  relation  to  the  size  of  the  hen : 
thus  the  Malay  is  a  larger  bird  than  the  Spanish,  but  generally  she 
produces  not  such  large  eggs ;  white  Bantams  are  said  to  lay 
smaller  eggs  than  other  Bantams ; 36  white  Cochins,  on  the  other 
hand,  as  I  hear  from  Mr.  Tegetmeier,  certainly  lay  larger  eggs 
than  buff  Cochins.  The  eggs,  however,  of  the  different  breeds 
vary  considerably  in  character ;  for  instance,  Mr.  Ballance  states  " 
that  his  Malay  "  pullets  of  last  year  laid  eggs  equal  in  size  to  those 
of  any  duck,  and  other  Malay  hens,  two  or  three  years  old,  laid 
eggs  very  little  larger  than  a  good-sized  Bantam's  egg.  Some 
were  as  white  as  a  Spanish  hen's  egg,  and  others  varied  from  a 
light  cream-colour  to  a  deep  rich  buff,  or  even  to  a  brown."  The 
shape  also  varies,  the  two  ends  being  much  more  equally  rounded 
in  Cochins  than  in  Games  or  Polish.  Spanish  fowls  lay  smoother 
eggs  than  Cochins,  of  which  the  eggs  are  generally  granulated. 
The  shell  in  this  latter  breed,  and  more  especially  in  Malays,  is  apt 
to  be  thicker  than  in  Games  or  Spanish  ;  but  the  Minorcas,  a  sub- 


35     Ornamental  and  Domestic  Poul-  ever,  figures  and  much  information  on 

try,  p.  152.  eggs.     See  pp.  34  and  235  on  the  eggs  of 

56  Ferguson   on  Rare  Prize  Poultry,'  the  Game  fowl. 

p.  29T.     This  writer,  I  am  informed,  can-  37  See  '  Poultry  Book,'  by  Mr.  Teget- 

oot  generally  be  trusted.    He  gives,  how-  meier,  1866,  pp.  SI  and  T8. 


Chap.  VII.    DIFFERENCES    BETWEEN    THE    BREEDS.    301 

breed  of  Spanish,  are  said  to  lay  harder  eggs  than  true  Spanish.3* 
The  colour  differs  considerably, — the  Cochins  laying  buff-coloured 
eggs  ;  the  Malays  a  paler  variable  buff;  and  Games  a  still  paler 
buff.  It  would  appear  that  darker-coloured  eggs  characterise  the 
breeds  which  have  lately  come  from  the  East,  or  are  still  closely 
allied  to  those  now  living  there.  The*colour  of  the  yolk,  according 
to  Ferguson,  as  well  as  of  the  shell,  differs  slightly  in  the  sub- 
breeds  of  the  Game,  and  stands  in  some  degree  of  correlation  with 
the  colour  of  the  plumage.  I  am  also  informed  by  Mr.  Brent  that 
dark  partridge-coloured  Cochin  hens  lay  darker  coloured  eggs  than 
the  other  Cochin  sub-breeds.  The  flavour  and  richness  of  the  egg 
certainly  differ  in  different  breeds.  The  productiveness  of  the 
several  breeds  is  very  different.  Spanish,  Polish,  and  Hamburgh 
have  lost  the  incubating  instinct. 

Chickens. — As  the  young  of  almost  all  gallinaceous  birds,  even  of 
the  black  curassow  and  black  grouse,  whilst  covered  with  down, 
are  longitudinally  striped  on  the  back, — of  which  character,  when 
adult,  neither  sex  retains  a  trace, — it  might  have  been  expected 
that  the  chickens  of  all  our  domestic  fowls  would  have  been  simi- 
larly striped.39  This  could,  however,  hardly  have  been  expected, 
when  the  adult  plumage  in  both  sexes  has  undergone  so  great  a 
change  as  to  be  wholly  white  or  black.  In  white  fowls  of  various 
breeds  the  chickens  are  uniformly  yellowish  white,  passing  in  the 
black-boned  Silk  fowl  into  bright  canary-yellow.  This  is  also 
generally  the  case  with  the  chickens  of  white  Cochins,  but  I  hear 
from  Mr.  Zurhost  that  they  are  sometimes  of  a  buff  or  oak  colour, 
and  that  all  those  of  this  latter  colour,  which  were  watched,  turned 
out  males.  The  chickens  of  buff  Cochins  are  of  a  golden-yellow, 
easily  distinguishable  from  the  paler  tint  of  the  white  Cochins,  and 
arc  often  longitudinally  streaked  with  dark  shades :  the  chickens  of 
silver-cinnamon  Cochins  are  almost  always  gf  a  buff  colour.  The 
chickens  of  the  white  Game  and  white  Dorking  breeds,  when  held 
in  particular  lights,  sometimes  exhibit  (on  the  authority  of  Mr. 
Brent)  faint  traces  of  longitudinal  stripes.  Fowls  which  are  entirely 
black,  namely  Spanish,  black  Game,  black  Polish,  and  black  Ban- 
tams, display  a  new  character,  for  their  chickens  have  their  breasts 
and  throats  more  or  less  white,  with  sometimes  a  little  white  else- 


's '  The  Cottage  Gardener,'  Oct.  1 S55,  namental  and  Domestic  Poultry.'     Mr. 

p.  13.     On  the  thinness  of  the  eggs  of  B.  P.  Brent  has  also  communicated  to 

Game-fowls,  see  Mowbray  on  Poultry,  me  many  facts   by  letter,  as  has  Mr. 

7th  edit.,  p.  13.  Tegetmeier.  I  will  in  each  case  mark  my 

39  My  information,  which  is  very  far  authority  by  the  name  within  brackets, 

from  perfect,  on  chickens  in  the  down,  For  the  chickens  of  white  Silk-fowls,  see 

is  derived  chiefly  from  Mr.  Dixon's  '  Or-  Tegetmeier's '  Poultry  Book,'  1SG6,  p.  221. 


302  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

where.  Spanish  chickens  also,  occasionally  (Brent),  have,  where 
the  down  was  white,  their  first  true  feathers  tipped  for  a  time  with 
white.  The  primordially  striped  character  is  retained  by  the 
chickens  of  most  of  the  Game  sub-breeds  (Brent,  Dixon) ;  by  Dork- 
ings ;  by  the  partridge  and  grouse-coloured  sub-breeds  of  Cochins 
(Brent),  but  not,  as  we  have^een,  by  all  the  other  sub-breeds ;  by 
the  pheasant-Malay  (Dixon),  but  apparently  not  (at  which  I  am 
much  surprised)  by  other  Malays.  The  following  breeds  and  sub- 
breeds  are  barely,  or  not  at  all,  longitudinally  striped  ;  viz.  gold  and 
silver  pencilled  Hamburghs,  which  can  hardly  be  distinguished 
from  each  other  (Brent)  in  the  down,  both  having  a  few  dark  spots 
on  the  head  and  rump,  with  occasionally  a  longitudinal  stripe 
(Dixon)  on  the  back  of  the  neck.  I  have  seen  only  one  chicken  of 
the  silver-spangled  Hamburgh,  and  this  was  obscurely  striped  along 
the  back.  Gold-spangled  Polish  chickens  (Tegetmeier)  are  of  a 
warm  russet  brown ;  and  silver-spangled  Polish  chickens  are  grey, 
sometimes  (Dixon)  with  dashes  of  ochre  on  the  head,  wings,  and 
breast.  Cuckoo  and  blue-dun  fowls  (Dixon)  are  grey  in  the  down. 
The  chickens  of  Sebright  Bantams  (Dixon)  are  iiniformly  dark 
brown,  whilst  those  of  the  brown-breasted  red  Game  Bantam  are 
black,  with  some  white  on  the  throat  and  breast.  From  these  facts 
we  see  that  the  chickens  of  the  different  breeds,  and  even  of  the 
same  main  breed,  differ  much  in  their  downy  plumage ;  and, 
although  longitudinal  stripes  characterise  the  young  of  all  wild 
gallinaceous  birds,  they  disappear  in  several  domestic  breeds. 
Perhaps  it  may  be  accepted  as  a  general  rule  that  the  more  the 
adult  plumage  differs  from  that  of  the  adult  O.  bankiva,  the  more 
completely  the  chickens  have  lost  their  proper  stripes. 

With  respect  to  the  period  of  life  at  which  the  charac- 
ters proper  to  each,  breed  first  appear,  it  is  obvious  that 
such  structures  as  additional  toes  must  be  formed  long 
before  birth.  In  Polish  fowls,  the  extraordinary  protu- 
berance of  the  anterior  part  of  the  skull  is  well  developed 
before  the  chickens  come  out  of  the  egg  ;40  but  the  crest, 
which  is  supported  on  the  protuberance,  is  at  first  feebly 
developed,  nor  does  it  attain  its  full  size  until  the  second 
year.  The  Spanish  cock  is  pre-eminent  for  his  magnifi- 
cent comb,  and  this  is  developed  at  an  unusually  early 


40  As  I  hear  from  Mr.  Tegetmeier  ;  see       On  the  late  development  of  the  crest,  see 
also  'Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.'  1S56,  p.  366.        'Poultry  Chronic!^' vol.  ii.  p.  182. 


Chap.  VII.    DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN  THE    BREEDS.      303 

age ;  so  that  the  young  males  can  be  distinguished  from 
the  females  Avhen  only  a  few  weeks  old,  and  therefore 
earlier  than  in  other  breeds ;  they  likewise  crow  very 
early,  namely,  when  about  six  weeks  old.  In  the  Dutch 
sub-breed  of  the  Spanish  fowl  the  white  car-lappets  are 
developed  earlier  than  in  the  common  Spanish  breed/1 
Cochins  are  characterised  by  a  small  tail,  and  in  the 
young  cocks  the  tail  is  developed  at  an  unusually  late 
period."  Game  fowls  are  notorious  for  their  pugnacity ; 
and  the  young  cocks  crow,  clap  their  little  wings,  and 
obstinately  fight  with  each  other,  even  whilst  under  their 
mother's  care.43  "  I  have  often  had,"  says  one  author,44 
"  whole  broods,  scarcely  feathered,  stone-blind  from  fight- 
ing ;  the  rival  couples  moping  in  corners,  and  renewing 
their  battles  on  obtaining  the  first  ray  of  light."  With 
the  males  of  all  gallinaceous  birds  the  use  of  their 
"weapons  and  pugnacity  is  to  fight  for  the  possession  of 
the  females ;  so  that  the  tendency  in  our  Game  chickens 
to  fight  at  an  extremely  early  age  is  not  only  useless,  but 
is  injurious,  as  they  suffer  so  much  from  their  wounds. 
The  training  for  battle  during  an  early  period  may  be 
natural  to  the  wild  Gallus  banJciva  ;  but  as  man  during 
many  generations  has  gone  on  selecting  the  most  obsti- 
nately pugnacious  cocks,  it  is  more  probable  that  their 
pugnacity  has  been  unnaturally  increased,  and  unnatu- 
rally transferred  to  the  young  male  chickens.  In  the 
same  manner,  it  is  probable  that  the  extraordinary  de- 
velopment of  the  comb  in  the  Spanish  cock  has  been 
unintentionally  transferred  to  the  young  cocks ;  for 
fanciers  would  not  care  whether  their  young  birds  had 
large  combs,  but  would  select  for  breeding  the  adults 
which  had  the  finest  combs,  whether  or  not  developed  at 


41  On  these  points,  see  '  Poultry  Chro-  43  Ferguson  on  Rare  and  Prize  Poultry, 

nlcle,' vol.  iii.  p.  166;  and  Tegetmeier's  p.  261. 

*  Poultry  Book,'  1866,  pp.  105  and  121.  <<  Mowbray  on  Poultry,  7th  edit.  1834, 

•*  Dixon,  '  Ornamental  and  Domestic  p.  13. 
Poultry,'  p.  2T3, 


304  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

an  early  period.  The  last  point  which  need  here  be 
noticed  is  that,  though  the  chickens  of  Spanish  and  Malay 
fowls  are  well  covered  with  down,  the  true  feathers  are 
acquired  at  an  unusually  late  age ;  so  that  for  a  time  the 
young  birds  are  partially  naked,  and  are  liable  to  suffer 
from  cold. 

Secondary  Sexual  Characters. — The  two  sexes  in  the 
parent-form,  the  Gallics  bankiva,  differ  much  in  colour. 
In  our  domestic  breeds  the  difference  is  never  greater,  but 
is  often  less,  and  varies  much  in  degree  even  in  the  sub- 
breeds  of  the  same  main  breed.  Thus  in  certain  Game 
fowls  the  difference  is  as  great  as  in  the  parent-form, 
whilst  in  the  black  and  white  sub-bi*eeds  there  is  no  dif- 
ference in  plumage.  Mr.  Brent  informs  me  that  he  has 
seen  two  strains  of  black-breasted  red  Games,  in  which 
the  cocks'  could  not  be  distinguished,  whilst  the  hens  in 
one  were  partridge-brown  and  in  the  other  fawn-brown. 
A  similar  case  has  been  observed  in  the  strains  of  the 
brown-breasted  red  Game.  The  hen  of  the  ".duck- 
winged  Game"  is  "  extremely  beautiful,"  and  differs 
much  from  the  hens  of  all  the  other  Game  sub-breeds; 
but  generally,  as  with  the  blue  and  grey  Game  and  with 
some  sub-varieties  of  the  pile-game,  a  moderately  close 
relation  may  be  observed  between  the  males  and  females 
in  the  variation  of  their  plumage.45  A  similar  relation  is 
also  evident  when  we  compare  the  several  varieties  of 
Cochins.  In  the  two  sexes  of  gold  and  silver-spangled  ' 
and  of  buff  Polish  fowls,  there  is  much  general  similarity 
in  the  colouring  and  marks  of  the  whole  plumage,  ex- 
cepting of  course  in  the  hackles,  crest,  and  beard.  In 
spangled  Hamburghs,  there  is  likewise  a  considerable  de- 
gree of  similarity  between  the  two  sexes.  In  pencilled 
Hamburghs,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  much  dissimilar- 
ity; the  pencilling  which  is  characteristic  of  the  hens  be- 


45  See  the  full  description  of  the  varie-        *  Poultry  Book,'  1866,  p.  131.     For  Cuc- 
ties  of  the  Game-breed,  in  Tegetmeier's       koo  Dorkings,  p.  9T. 


Ch.p.  vii.  SEXUAL    DIFFERENCES.  305 

ing  almost  absent  in  the  males  of  both  the  golden  and 
silver  varieties.  But,  as  we  have  already  seen,  it  cannot 
be  given  as  a  general  rule  that  male  fowls  never  have 
pencilled  feathers,  for  Cuckoo  Dorkings  are  "  remarkable 
from  having  nearly  similar  markings  in  both  sexes." 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  males  in  certain  sub-breeds 
have  lost  some  of  their  secondary  masculine  characters, 
and,  from  their  close  resemblance  in  plumage  to  the  fe- 
males, are  often  called  hennies.     There  is  much  diversity 
of  opinion  whether  these  males  are  in  any  degree  sterile ; 
that  they  sometimes  are  partially  sterile  seems  clear,48  but 
this  may  have  been  caused  by  too  close  interbreeding. 
That  they  are  not  quite  sterile,  and  that  the  whole  case 
is   widely  different  from  that  of  old  females   assuming 
masculine  characters,  is  evident  from  several  of  these  hen- 
like sub-breeds  having  been  long  propagated.     The  males 
and  females  of  gold  and  silver-laced  Sebright  Bantams 
can  be  barely  distinguished  from  each  other,  except  by 
their  combs,  wattles,  and  spurs,  for  they  are  coloured 
alike,  and  the  males  have  not  hackles,  nor  the  flowing 
sickle-like  tail-feathers.     A  hen-tailed  sub-breed  of  Ham- 
burghs  was  recently  much   esteemed.     There  is  also  a 
breed  of  Game-fowls,  in  which  the  males  and  females  re- 
semble each  other  so  closely  that  the  cocks  have  often 
mistaken  their  hen-feathered  opponents  in  the  cock-pit 
for  real  hens,  and  by  the  mistake  have  lost  their  lives.47 
The  cocks,  though  dressed  in  the  feathers  of  the  hen, 
"  are  high-spirited  birds,  and  their  courage  has  been  often 
proved  :"  an  engraving  even  has  been  published  of  one 
celebrated    hen-tailed  victor.     Mr.  Tegetmeier48  has  re- 
corded  the   remarkable   case   of  a   brown-breasted   red 
Game-cock  which,  after  assuming  its  perfect  masculine 


48  Mr.  Hewitt  in  Tegetmeier's  '  Poultry  cocks  thus  sacrificed. 

Bonk,'  1S6 :,  pp.  240  and  156.     For  hen-  «8  '  Proceedings  of  Zoolog.  Soc'  March, 

tailed  game-cocks,  see  p.  131.  1S61,  p.  102.    The  engraving  of  the  hen- 

47  l  The  Field,'  April  20th,  1861.     The  tailed  cock  just  alluded  to  was  exhibited 

writer    says    lie  has  seen  half-a-dozen  at  the  Society. 


306  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

plumage,  became  hen-feathered  in  the  autumn  of  the  fol- 
lowing year ;  but  he  did  not  lose  voice,  spurs,  strength, 
nor  productiveness.  This  bird  has  now  retained  the  same 
character  during  live  seasons,  and  has  begot  both  hen- 
feathered  and  male-feathered  offspring.  Mr.  Grantley  F. 
Berkeley  relates  the  still  more  singular  case  of  a  cele- 
brated strain  of  "  polecat  Game-fowls,"  which  produced 
in  nearly  every  brood  a  single  hen-cock.  "  The  great 
peculiarity  in  one  of  these  birds  was  that  he,  as  the  sea- 
sons succeeded  each  other,  was  not  always  a  hen-cock, 
and  not  always  of  the  colour  called  the  polecat,  which  is 
black.  From  the  polecat  and  hen-cock  feather  in  one 
season  he  moulted  to  a  full  male-plumaged  black-breasted 
red,  and  in  the  following  year  he  returned  to  the  former 
feather."49 

I  have  remarked  in  my  '  Origin  of  Species '  that  sec- 
ondary sexual  characters  are  apt  to  differ  much  in  the 
species  of  the  same  genus,  and  to  be  unusually  variable 
in  the  individuals  of  the  species.  So  it  is  with  the  breeds 
of  the  fowl,  as  we  have  already  seen,  as  fir  as  the  colour 
of  plumage  is  concerned,  and  so  it  is  with  the  other 
secondary  sexual  characters.  Firstly,  the  comb  differs 
much  in  the  various  breeds,60  and  its  form  is  eminently 
characteristic  of  each  kind,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Dorkings,  in  which  the  form  has  not  been  as  yet  deter- 
mined on  by  fanciers,  and  fixed  by  selection.  A  single, 
deeply-serrated  comb  is  the  typical  and  most  common 
form.  It  differs  much  in  size,  being  immensely  develop- 
ed in  Spanish  fowls ;  and  in  a  local  breed  called  Red- 
caps, it  is  sometimes  "  upwards  of  three  inches  in  breadth 
at  the  front,  and  more  than  four  inches  in  length,  meas- 
ured to  the  end  of  the  peak  behind."  51  In  some  breeds 
the  comb  is  double,  and  when  the  two  ends  are  cemented 


49  '  The  Field,'  April  20th,  1S61.  and  likewise  with  respect  to  the  tail,  as 

60  I  am  much  indebted  to  Mr.  Brent  presently  to  be  given. 

for  an  account,  with  sketches,  of  all  the  61  The  '  Poultry  Book,'  by  Tegetmeier, 

variations  of  the  comb  known  to  him,  1866,  p.  231. 


Chap.  VII.  SEXUAL    DIFFERENCES.  307 

together  it  forms  a  "  cup-comb  ;"  in  the  "  rose-comb  "  it 
is  depressed,  covered  with  small  projections,  and  pro- 
duced backwards ;  in  the  horned  and  creve-cauir  fowl  it 
is  produced  into  two  horns  ;  it  is  triple  in  the  pea-combed 
Brahmas,  short  and  truncated  in  the  Malays,  and  absent 
in  the  Guelderlands.  In  the  tasselled  Game  a  few  long 
feathers  arise  from  the  back  of  the  comb  ;  in  mauy  breeds 
a  crest  of  feathers  replaces  the  comb.  The  crest,  when 
little  developed,  arises  from  a  fleshy  mass,  but,  when 
much  developed,  from  a  hemispherical  protuberance  of 
the  skull.  In  the  best  Polish  fowls  it  is  so  largely  de- 
veloped, that  I  have  seen  birds  which  could  hardly  pick 
up  their  food  ;  and  a  German  writer  asserts  M  that  they 
are  in  consequence  liable  to  be  struck  by  hawks.  Mon- 
strous structures  of  this  kind  would  thus  be  suppressed 
in  a  state  of  nature.  The  wattles,  also,  vary  much  in 
size,  being  small  in  Malays  and  some  other  breeds ;  they 
are  replaced  in  certain  Polish  sub-breeds  by  a  great  tuft 
of  feathers  called  a  beard. 

The  hackles  do  not  differ  much  in  the  various  breeds, 
but  ai'e  short  and  stiff"  in  Malays,  and  absent  in  Hennies. 
As  in  some  orders  of  birds  the  males  display  extraordi- 
narily-shaped feathers,  such  as  naked  shafts  with  discs  at 
the  end,  &c,  the  following  case  may  be  worth  giving. 
In  the  wild  Gall  us  bankiva  and  in  our  domestic  fowls, 
the  barbs  which  arise  from  each  side  of  the  extremities 
of  the  hackles  are  naked  or  not  clothed  with  barbules,  so 
that  they  resemble  bristles ;  but  Mr.  Brent  sent  me  some 
scapular  hackles  from  a  young  Birchen  Duckwing  Game 
cock,  in  which  the  naked  bai-bs  became  densely  reclothed 
with  barbules  towards  their  tips;  so  that  these  tips, 
which  were. dark  coloured  with  a  metallic  lustre,  were 
separated  from  the  lower  parts  by  a  symmetrically-shaped 
transparent  zone  formed  of  the  naked  portions  of  the 


»»  '  Die  Huhner  und  Pfauenzucht,'  1827,  s.  11. 


308  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

barbs.     Hence  the  coloured  tips  appeared  like  little  sepa- 
rate metallic  discs. 

The  sickle-feathers  in  the  tail,  of  which  there  are  three 
pair,  and  which  are  eminently  characteristic  of  the  male 
sex,  differ  much  in  the  various  breeds.  They  are  scimitar- 
shaped  in  someHamburghs,  instead  of  being  long  and  flow- 
ing as  in  the  typical  breeds.  They  are  extremely  short  in 
Cochins,  and  are  not  at  all  developed  in  Hennies.  They 
are  carried,  together  with  the  whole  tail,  erect  in  Dork- 
ings and  Games ;  but  droop  much  in  Malays  and  in  some 
Cochins.  Sultans  are  characterized  by  an  additional  num- 
ber of  lateral  sickle-feathers.  The  spurs  vary  much,  being 
placed  higher  or  lower  on  the  shank ;  being  extremely 
long  and  sharp  in  Games,  and  blunt  and  short  in  Cochins. 
These  latter  birds  seem  aware  that  their  spurs  are  not 
efficient  weapons ;  for  though  they  occasionally  use  them, 
they  more  frequently  fight,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr. 
Tegetmeier,  by  seizing  and  shaking  each  other  with  their 
beaks.  In  some  Indian  Game-cocks,  received  by  Mr. 
Brent  from  Germany,  there  are,  as  he  informs  me,  three, 
four,  or  even  five  spurs  on  each  leg.  Some  Dorkings  also 
have  two  spurs  on  each  leg;63  and  in  birds  of  this  breed 
the  spur  is  often  placed  almost  on  the  outside  of  the  leg. 
Double  spurs  are  mentioned  in  the  ancient  Chinese  Ency- 
clopaedia. "  Their  occurrence  may  be  considered  as  a  case 
of  analogous  variation,  for  some  wild  gallinaceous  birds, 
for  instance,  the  Potyplectron,  have  double  spurs. 

Judging  from  the  differences  which  generally  distin- 
guish the  sexes  in  the  Gallinacere,  certain  characters  in 
our  domestic  fowls  appear  to  have  been  transferred  from 
the  one  sex  to  the  other.  In  all  the  species  (except  in 
Turnix),  when  there  is  any  conspicuous  difference  in  plu- 
mage between  the  male  and  female,  the  male  is  always 


68  '  Poultry  Chronicle,'  vol.  i.  p.  595.        the  spurs    in    Dorkings,    see  '  Cottage 
Mr.  Brent  has  informed  me  of  the  same        Gardener,'  Sept.  18th,  1860,  p.  3S0. 
fact.    With  respect  to  the  position  of 


Chap.  VII.  SEXUAL    DIFFERENCES.  309 

the  most  beautiful ;  but  in  golden-spangled  Hamburghs 

the  hen  is  equally  beautiful  with  the  cock,  and  incompa- 
rably more  beautiful  than  the  hen  iu  any  natural  species 
of  Gallus;  so  that  here  a  masculine  character  has  been 
transferred  to  the  female.  On  the  other  hand,  in  cuckoo 
Dorkings  and  in  other  cuckoo  breeds  the  pencilling,  which 
in  Gallus  is  a  female  attribute,  has  been  transferred  to 
the  male :  nor,  on  the  principle  of  analogous  variation,  is 
this  transference  surprising,  as  the  males  in  many  galli- 
naceous genera  are  barred  or  pencilled.  With  most  of 
these  birds  head  ornaments  of  all  kinds  are  more  fully 
developed  in  the  male  than  in  the  female  ;  but  in  Polish 
fowls  the  crest  or  top-knot,  which  in  the  male  replaces 
the  comb,  is  equally  developed  in  both  sexes.  In  certain 
sub-breeds,  which  from  the  hen  having  a  small  crest,  are 
called  lark-crested,  "  a  single  upright  comb  sometimes  al- 
most entirely  takes  the  place  of  the  crest  in  the  male."64 
From  this  latter  ease,  and  from  some  facts  presently  to 
be  given  with  respect  to  the  protuberance  of  the  skidl  in 
Polish  fowls,  the  crest  in  this  breed  ought  perhaps  to  be 
viewed  as  a  feminine  character  which  has  been  transferred 
to  the  male.  In  the  Spanish  breed  the  male,  as  we  know, 
has  an  immense  comb,  and  this  has  been  partially  transfer- 
red to  the  female,  for  her  comb  is  unusually  large,  though 
not  upright.  In  Game-fowls  the  bold  and  savage  disposi- 
tion of  the  male  has  likewise  been  largely  transferred  to  the 
female  ;  "  and  she  sometimes  even  possesses  the  eminently 
masculine  character  of  spurs.  Many  cases  are  on  record 
of  hens  being  furnished  with  spurs  ;  and  in  Germany,  ac- 
cording to  Bechstein,66  the  spurs  in  the  Silk-hen  are  some- 
times very  long.  He  mentions  also  another  breed  simi- 
larly characterized,  in  which  the  hens  are  excellent  layers, 


61  Dixon, 'Ornamental  and  Domestic  tice  to  exhibit  each  hen  iu  a  separate 

Poultry,'  p.  320.  pen. 

65  Mr.   Tegetmeier    informs  me   that  S6  'Naturgeschichte       Deutscliland9,* 

Game  hens  have  been   found   so   com-  Band  iii.  (1793),  s.  339,  407. 
hative,  that  it  is  now  generally  the  prac- 


310  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

but  are  apt  to  disturb  and  break  their  eggs  owing  to  their 
spurs. 

JMr.  Layard  "  has  given  an  account  of  a  breed  of  fowls 
in  Ceylon  with  black  skin,  bones,  and  wattle,  but  with 
ordinary  feathers,  and  which  cannot  "  be  more  aptly  de- 
scribed than  by  comparing  them  to  a  white  fowl  draAvn 
down  a  sooty  chimney ;  it  is,  however,"  adds  Mr.  Layard, 
"  a  remarkable  fact  that  a  male  bird  of  the  pure  sooty 
variety  is  almost  as  rare  as  a  tortoise-shell  tom-cat."  Mr. 
Blyth  finds  that  the  same  rule  holds  good  with  this  breed 
near  Calcutta.  The  males  and  females,  on  the  other  hand, 
of  the  black-boned  European  breed,  with  silky  feathers, 
do  not  differ  from  each  other ;  so  that  in  the  one  breed 
black  skin  and  bones,  and  the  same  kind  of  plumage,  are 
common  to  both  sexes,  whilst  in  the  other  breed  these 
characters  are  confined  to  the  female  sex. 

At  the^  present  day  all  the  breeds  of  Polish  fowls  have 
the  great  bony  protuberance  on  their  skulls,  which  in- 
cludes part  of  the  brain  and  supports  the  crest,  equally 
developed  in  both  sexes.  But  formerly  in  Germany  the 
skull  of  the  hen  alone  was  protuberant :  Blumenbach,68 
who  particularly  attended  to  abnormal  peculiarities  in 
domestic  animals,  states,  in  1813,  that  this  was  the  case; 
and  Bechstein  had  previously,  in  1793,  observed  the  same 
fact.  This  latter  author  has  carefully  described  the  effects 
of  a  crest  on  the  skull  not  only  in  fowls,  but  in  ducks, 
geese,  and  canaries.  He  states  that  with  fowls,  when  the 
crest  is  not  much  developed,  it  is  supported  on  a  fatty 
mass  ;  but  when  much  developed,  it  is  always  supported 


67  On  the  Ornithology  of  Ceylon  in  puted  the  accuracy  of  Blumenbach's 
'  Annals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.  History,' 2nd  statement.  For  Bechstein,  s«e'Natur- 
series,  vol.  xiv.  (1854),  p.  63.  geschichte     Deutschlands,'     Band     iii. 

68  I  quote  Blumenbach  on  the  autho-  (1T93),  s.  399,  note.  I  may  add  that  at 
rity  of  Mr.  Tegetmeier,  who  gives  in  the  first  exhibition  of  poultry  at  the 
'  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,' Nov.  25th,  1S56,  a  Zoological  Gardens,  in  May,  1S45,  I  saw 
very  interesting  account  of  the  skulls  some  fowls,  called  Fiiezland  fowls,  of 
of  Polish  fowls.  Mr.  Tegetmeier,  not  which  the  hens  were  crested,  and  the 
knowing   of  Bechstein's   account,   dis-  cocks  were  furnished  with  a  comb. 


Chap.  VII.  EXTERNAL    DIFFERENCES.  oil 

on  a  bony  protuberance  of  variable  size.  He  well  de- 
scribes tbe  peculiarities  of  this  protuberance,  and  be  at- 
tended to  tbe  effects  of  tbe  modified  sbape  of  tbe  brain  on 
tbe  intellect  of  tbese  birds,  and  disputes  Pallas'  statement 
that  they  are  stupid.  He  then  expressly  states  that  he 
never  observed  this  protuberance  in  male  fowls.  Hence 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  remarkable  character  in 
the  skulls  of  Polish  fowls  was  formerly  in  Germany  con- 
fined to  the  female  sex,  but  has  now  been  transferred  to 
the  males,  and  has  thus  become  common  to  both  sexes. 

External  Differences,  not  connected  with  the  sexes,  between 
the  breeds  and  between  individual  birds. 

The  size  of  the  body  differs  greatly.  Mr.  Tegetmeier  has  known 
r  Brahma  to  weigh  17  pounds  ;  a  fine  Malay  cock  10  pounds ;  whilst 
a  first-rate  Sebright  Bantam  weighs  hardly  more  than  1  pound. 
During  the  last  20  jrears  the  size  of  some  of  our  breeds  has  been 
largely  increased  by  methodical  selection,  whilst  that  of  other  breeds 
has  been  much  diminished.  We  have  already  seen  how  greatly 
colour  varies  even  witkin  the  same  breed ;  we  know  that  the  wild 
G.  baiikica  varies  slightly  in  colour ;  we  know  that  colour  is  varia- 
ble in  all  our  domestic  animals ;  nevertheless  some  eminent  fanciers 
have  so  little  faith  in  variability,  that  they  have  actually  argued 
that  the  chief  Game  sub-breeds,  which  differ  from  each  other  in 
nothing  but  colour,  are  descended  from  distinct  wild  species !  Cross- 
ing often  causes  strange  modifications  of  colour.  Mr.  Tegetmeier 
informs  me  that  when  buff  and  white  Cochins  are  crossed,  some  of 
the  chickens  are  almost  invariably  black.  According  to  Mr.  Brent, 
black  and  white  Cochins  occasionally  produce  chickens  of  a  slaty- 
blue  tint ;  and  this  same  tint  appears,  as  Mr.  Tegetmeier  tells  me, 
from  crossing  white  Cochins  with  black  Spanish  fowls,  or  white 
Dorkings  with  black  Minorcas.60  A  good  observer 60  states  that  a 
first-rate  silver-spangled  Hamburgh  hen  gradually  lost  the  m«st 
characteristic  qualities  of  the  breed,  for  the  black  lacing  to  her  feath- 
ers disappeared,  and  her  legs  changed  from  ieadenblue  to  white ; 
but  what  makes  the  case  remarkable  is,  that  this  tendency  ran  in 
the  blood,  for  her  sister  changed  in  a  similar  but  less  strongly 


68  '  Cottage  Gardener,'  Jan.  3rd,  1860,        fore  the  Dublin  Nat.  Hist.  Soc,  quoted  in 
p.  218.  '  Cottage  Gardener,'  1S06,  p.  161. 

80  Mr.  Williams,  in  a  paper  read  be- 


312  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

marked  manner;  and  chickens  produced  from  this  latter  hen  were 
at  first  almost  pure  white,  "  but  on  moulting  acquired  black  collars 
and  some  spangled  feathers  with  almost  obliterated  markings ;"  so 
that  a  new  variety  arose  in  this  singular  manner.  The  skin  in  the , 
different  breeds  differs  much  in  colour,  being  white  in  common  kinds, 
yellow  in  Malays  and  Cochins,  and  black  in  Silk  fowls ;  thus  mock- 
ing, as  M.  Godron 61  remarks,  the  three  principal  types  of  skin  in 
mankind.  The  same  author  adds,  that,  as  different  kinds  of  fowls 
living  in  distant  and  isolated  parts  of  the  world  have  black  skin  and 
bones,  this  colour  must  have  appeared  at  various  times  and  places. 

The  shape  and  carriage  of  the  body  and  the  shape  of  the  head  dif- 
fer much.  The  beak  varies  slightly  in  length  and  curvature,  but  in- 
comparably less  than  with  pigeons.  In  most  crested  fowls  the  nos- 
trils offer  a  remarkable  peculiarity  in  being  raised  with  a  crescentic 
outline.  The  primary  wing-feathers  are  short  in  Cochins ;  in  a 
male,  which  must  have  been  more  than  twice  as  heavy  as  G.  omikiva, 
these  feathers  were  in  both  birds  of  the  same  length.  I  have  count 
ed,  with  Mr.  Tegetmeier's  aid,  the  primary  wing-feathers  in  thirteen 
cocks  and  hens  of  various  breeds  ;  in  four  of  them,  namely  in  two 
Hamburghs,  a  Cochin,  and  Game  Bantam,  there  were  10,  instead  of 
the  normal  number  9  ;  but  in  counting  these  feathers  I  have  followed 
the  practice  of  fanciers,  and  have  not  included  the  first  minute  pri 
mary  feather,  barely  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  length.  These 
feathers  differ  considerably  in  relative  length,  the  fourth,  or  the  fifth.. 
or  the  sixth,  being  the  longest ;  with  the  third  either  equal  to,  or 
considerably  shorter  than  the  fifth.  In  wild  gallinaceous  species  thfa 
relative  length  and  number  of  the  main  wing  and  tail-feathers  are 
extremely  constant. 

The  tail  differs  much  in  erectness  and  size,  being  small  in  Malays 
and  very  small  in  Cochins.  In  thirteen  fowls  of  various  breeds 
which  I  have  examined,  five  had  the  normal  number  of  14  feath- 
ers, including  in  this  number  the  two  middle  sickle-feathers ;  six 
others  (viz.  a  Caffre  cock,  Gold-spangled  Polish  cock,  Cochin  hen, 
Sultan  hen,  Game  hen,  and  Malay  hen)  had  16 ;  and  two  (an  old 
Cochin  cock  and  Malay  hen)  had  17  feathers.  The  rumpless  fowl 
has  no  tail,  and  in  a  bird  which  I  kept  alive  the  oil-gland  had  abort- 
ed ;  but  this  bird,  though  the  os  coccygis  was  extremely  imperfect, 
had  a  vestige  of  a  taU  with  two  rather  long  feathers  in  the  position 
of  the  outer  caudals.    This  bird  came  from  a  family  where,  as  I  was 


61  '  De  l'Espece,' 1859,  442.      For  the  Azara, '  Quadrupedes  du  Paraguay,' torn, 

occurrence  of  black  boned  fowls  in  South  ii.  p.  324.    A  frizzled  fowl  sent  to  ine 

America,    see    Roulin,     in    '  Mem.    de  from  Madras  had  black  bones. 
I'Acad.  des  Sciences.'  torn.  vi.  p.  351 ;  and 


Chap.  VII.  EXTERNAL    DIFFERENCES.  313 

told,  the  breed  had  kept  true  for  twenty  years  ;  but  rumpless  fowls 
often  produce  chickens  with  tails.62  An  eminent  physiologist63  has 
recently  spoken  of  this  breed  as  a  distinct  species ;  had  he  examined 
the  deformed  state  of  the  os  coccyx  he  would  never  have  come  to 
this  conclusion ;  he  was  probably  misled  by  the  statement,  which 
may  be  found  in  some  works,  that  tailless  fowls  are  wild  in  Ceylon  ; 
but  this  statement,  as  I  have  been  assured  by  Mr.  Layard  and  Dr. 
Kellaert,  who  have  so  closely  studied  the  birds  of  Ceylon,  is  utterly 
false. 

The  tarsi  vary  considerably  in  length,  being  relatively  to  the 
femur  considerably  longer  in  the  Spanish  and  Frizzled,  and  shorter 
in  the  Silk  and  Bantam  breeds,  than  in  the  wild  G.  bankim;  but 
in  the  latter,  as  we  have  seen,  the  tarsi  vary  in  length.  The  tarsi 
are  often  feathered.  The  feet  in  many  breeds  are  furnished  with 
additional  toes.  Golden-spangled  Polish  fowls  are  said  °4  to  have 
the  skin  between  their  toes  much  developed ;  Mr.  Tegetmeier 
observed  this  in  one  bird,  but  it  was  not  so  in  one  which  I  exam- 
ined. In  Cochins  the  middle  toe  is  said 65  to  be  nearly  double  the 
length  of  the  lateral  toes,  and  therefore  much  longer  than  in  G. 
1'Hikim  or  in  other  fowls ;  but  this  was  not  the  case  in  two  which  I 
examined.  The  nail  of  the  middle  toe  in  this  same  breed  is  sur- 
prisingly broad  and  flat,  but  in  a  variable  degree  in  two  birds 
which  I  examined ;  of  this  structure  in  the  nail  there  is  only  a 
trace  in  G.  bankim. 

The  voice  differs  slightly,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr*.  Dixon,  in 
almost  every  breed.  The  Malays 66  have  a  loud,  deep,  somewhat 
prolonged  crow,  but  with  considerable  individual  differences.  Col- 
onel Sykes  remarks  that  the  domestic  Kulni  cock  in  India  has  not 
the  shrill  clear  pipe  of  the  English  bird,  and  "  his  scale  of  notes 
appears  more  limited."  Dr.  Hooker  was  struck  with  the  "pro- 
longed howling  screech"  of  the  cocks  in  Sikhim.67  The  crow  of  the 
Cochin  is  notoriously  and  ludicrously  different  from  that  of  the 
common  cock.  The  disposition  of  the  different  breeds  is  widely 
different,  varying  from  the  savage  and  defiant  temper  of  the  Game- 
cock to  the  extremely  peaceable  temper  of  the  Cochin.  The  latter, 
it  has  been  asserted,  "graze  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  any 


•3  Mr.  newitt,  in  Tegetmeier's 'Poul-  Tegetmeier's  'Poultry  Book,'   1S6G,  p. 

try  Book,' 1S66,  p.  231.  41.     On  Cochins  grazing,  idem,  p.  46. 

e3  Dr.    Broca,    in    Brown-Sequard's  66  Ferguson  on  '  Prize  Poultry,' p.  187. 

'Journal  de  Phy9.,'  torn.  ii.  p.  361.  «7  Col.  Sykes  in  '  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,' 

84  Dixon's  'Ornamental  Poultry,'  p.  1832,  p.  151.     Dr.  Hooker's  'Himalayan 

323.  Journals,'  vol.  i.  p.  314. 

«s  'Poultry  Chronicle,'  vol.  i.  p.  4S5. 
1-t 


314  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

other  varieties."    The  Spanish  fowls  suffer  more  from  frost  than 
other  breeds. 

Before  we  pass  on  to  the  skeleton,  the  degree  of  dis- 
tinctness of  the  several  breeds  from  G.  bankiva  ought  to 
be  noticed.  Some  writers  speak  of  the  Spanish  as  one 
of  the  most  distinct  breeds,  and  so  it  is  in  general  aspect ; 
but  its  characteristic  differences  are  not  important.  The 
Malay  appears  to  me  more  distinct,  from  its  tall  stature, 
small  drooping  tail  with  more  than  fourteen  tail-feathers, 
and  from  its  small  comb  and  wattles ;  nevertheless  one 
Malay  sub-breed  is  coloured  almost  exactly  like  G.  ban- 
kiva. Some  authors  consider  the  Polish  fowl  as  very 
distinct ;  but  this  is  a  semi-monstrous  breed,  as  shown 
by  the  protuberant  and  irregularly  perforated  skull. 
The  Cochin,  with  its  deeply  furrowed  frontal  bones, 
peculiarly  shaped  occipital  foramen,  short  wing-feathers, 
short  tail  containing  more  than  fourteen  feathers,  broad 
nail  to  the  middle  toe,  fluffy  plumage,  rough  and  dark- 
coloured  eggs,  and  especially  from  its  peculiar  voice,  is 
probably  the  most  distinct  of  all  the  breeds.  If  any  one 
of  our  bre%ds  has  descended  from  some  unknoAvn  species, 
distinct  from  G.  bankiva,  it  is  probably  the  Cochin ; 
but  the  balance  of  evidence  does  not  favour  this  view. 
All  the  characteristic  differences  of  the  Cochin  breed  are 
more  or  less  variable,  and  may  be  detected  in  a  greater 
or  lesser  degree  in  other  breeds.  One  sub-breed  is  col- 
oured closely  like  G.  bankiva.  The  feathered  legs,  often 
furnished  with  an  additional  toe,  the  wings  incapable  of 
flight,  the  extremely  quiet  disposition,  indicate  a  long 
course  of  domestication ;  and  these  fowls  come  from 
China,  where  we  know  that  plants  and  animals  have 
been  tended  from  a  remote  period  with  extraordinary 
care,  and  where  consequently  we  might  expect  to  find 
profoundly  modified  domestic  races. 

Osteological  Differences. — I  have  examined  twenty- 
seven  skeletons  and  fifty-three  skulls  of  various  breeds, 
including  three  of   G,  bankiva:    nearly  half  of  these 


Chap.  vii.  OSTEOLOGICAL    DIFFERENCES.  315 

skulls  I  owe  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Tegetmeier,  and  three 
of  the  skeletons  to  Mr.  Eyton. 

The  Skull  differs  greatly  in  size  in  different  breeds,  being  nearly 
twice  as  long  in  the  largest  Cochins,  but  not  nearly  twice  as  broad, 
as  in  Bantams.  The  bones  at  the  base,  from  the  occipital  foramen 
to  the  anterior  end  (including  the  quadrates  and  pterygoids),  are 
absolutely  identical  in  shape  in  all  the  skulls.  So  is  the  lower  jaw. 
In  the  forehead  slight  differences  are  often  perceptible  between  the 
males  and  females,  evidently  caused  by  the  presence  of  the  comb. 
In  every  case  I  take  the  skull  of  G.  bankim  as  the  standard  of  com- 
parison. In  four  Games,  in  one  Malay  hen,  in  an  African  cock, 
in  a  Frizzled  cock  from  Madras,  in  two  black-boned  Silk  hens, 
no  differences  occur  worth  notice.  In  three  Spanish  cocks,  the 
form  of  the  forehead  between  the  orbits  differs  considerably ;  in 
one  it  is  considerably  depressed,  whilst  in  the  two  others  it  is  rather 
prominent,  with  a  deep  medial  furrow ;  the  skull  of  the  hen  is 
smooth.  In  three  skulls  of  Sebright  Bantams  the  crown  is  more 
globular,  and  slopes  more  abruptly  to  the  occiput,  than  in  G.  ban- 
Lira.  In  a  Bantam  or  Jumper  from  Burmah  these  same  characters 
are  more  strongly  pronounced,  and  the  supra-occiput  is  more  point- 
ed. In  a  black  Bantam  the  skidl  is  not  so  globular,  and  the  occipital 
foramen  is  very  large,  and  has  nearly  the  same  sub-triangular  out- 
line presently  to  be  described  in  Cochins  ;  and  in  this  skull  the  two 
ascending  branches  of  the  premaxillary  are  overlapped  in  a  singu- 
lar manner  by  the  processes  of  the  nasal  bone,  but,  as  I  have  seen 
only  one  specimen,  some  of  these  differences  may  be  individual. 
Of  Cochins  and  Brahmas  (the  latter  a  crossed  race  approaching 
closely  to  Cochins)  I  have  examined  seven  skulls  ;  at  the  point 
where  the  ascending  branches  of  the  premaxillary  rest  on  the 
frontal  bone  the  surface  is  much  depressed,  and  from  this  depression 
a  deep  medial  furrow  extends  backwards  to  a  variable  distance  ; 
the  edges  of  this  fissure  are  rather  prominent,  as  is  the  top  of  the 
skull  behind  and  over  the  orbits.  These  characters  are  less  de- 
veloped in  the  hens.  The  pterygoids,  and  the  processes  of  the 
lower  jaw,  relatively  to  the  size  of  the  head,  are  broader  than  in 
G.  bankica;  and  this  is  likewise  the  case" with  Dorkings  when  of 
large  size.  The  terminal  fork  of  the  hyoid  bone  .  in  Cochins  is 
twice  as  wide  as  in  G.  bankma,  whereas  the  length  of  the  other 
hyoid  bones  is  only  as  three  to  two.  But  the  most  remarkable 
character  is  the  shape  of  the  occipital  foramen  :  in  G.  bankiva  (A) 
the  breadth  in  a  horizontal  line  exceeds  the  height  in  a  vertical 
line,  and  the  outline  is  nearly  circular ;  whereas  in  Cochins  (B)  the 
outline  is  sub-triangular,  and  the  vertical  line  exceeds  the  hori- 


316 


FOWLS. 


Chap.  VII. 


zontal  line  in  length.  This  same  form  likewise  occurs  in  the  black 
Bantam  above  referred  to,  and  an  approach  to  it  may  be  seen  in 
some  Dorkings,  and  in  a  slight  degree  in  certain  other  breeds. 


Q 


Fig.  33. — Occipital  Foramen,  of  natural  size. 

Cock. 


A.  Wild  Gallus  bankiva.    B.  Cochin 


Of  Dorkings  I  have  examined  three  skulls,  one  belonging  to  the 
white  sub-breed  ;  the  one  character  deserving  notice  is  the  breadth 
of  the  frontal  bones,  which  are  moderately  furrowed  in  the  middle ; 
thus  in  a  skull  which  was  less  than  once  and  a  half  the  length  of 


Fig.   £4. —  Skulls  of  natural  size,  viewed  from  above,  a  little  obliquely. 
Gallus  bankiva.    B.  White-crested  Polish  Cock. 


A.  Wild 


Chap.  VII.  OSTEOLOGICAL    DIFFERENCES.  317 

that  of  G.  bankira,  the  breadth  hctween  the  orbits  was  exactly 
double.  Of  Hambnrghs  I  have  examined  four  skulls  (male  and  fe- 
male) of  the  pencilled  sub-breed,  and  one  (male)  of  the  spangled 
sub-breed  ;  the  nasal  bones  stand  remarkably  wide  apart,  but  in  a 
variable  degree  ;  consequently  narrow  membrane-covered  spaces  are 
left  between  the  tips  of  the  two  ascending  branches  of  the  premaxil- 
lary  bones,  which  are  rather  short,  and  between  these  branches  and 
the  nasal  bones.  The  surface  of  the  frontal  bone,  on  which  the 
branches  of  the  premaxillary  rest,  is  very  little  depressed.  These 
peculiarities  no  doubt  stand  in  close  relation  with  the  broad  flat- 
tened rose-comb  characteristic  of  the  Hamburgh  breed. 

I  have  examined  fourteen  skulls  of  Polish  and  other  crested  breeds. 
Their  differences  are  extraordinary.  First  for  nine  skulls  of  differ- 
ent sub-breeds  of  English  Polish  fowls.  The  hemispherical  protu- 
berance of  the  frontal  bones 68  may  be  seen  in  the  accompanying 
drawings,  in  which  (B)  the  skull  of  a  white-crested  Polish  fowl  is 
shown  obliquely  from  above,  with  the  skull  (A)  of  G.  bankiva  in 
the  same  position.  In  fig.  35  longitudinal  sections  are  given  of  the 
skulls  of  a  Polish  fowl,  and,  for  comparison,  of  a  Cochin  of  the  same 
size.  The  protuberance  in  all  Polish  fowls  occupies  the  same  posi- 
tion, but  differs  much  in  size.  In  one  of  my  nine  specimens  it  was 
extremely  slight.  The  degree  to  which  the  protuberance  is  ossified 
varies  greatly,  larger  or  smaller  portions  of  bone  being  replaced  by 
membrane.  In  one  specimen  there  was  only  a  single  open  pore ; 
generally,  there  are  many  variously-shaped  open  spaces,  the  bone 
forming  an  irregular  reticulation.  A  medial,  longitudinal,  arched 
ribbon  of  bone  is  generally  retained,  but  in  one  specimen  there  was 
no  bone  whatever  over  the  whole  protuberance,  and  the  skull  when 
cleaned  and  viewed  from  above  presented  the  appearance  of  an  open 
basin.  The  change  in  the  whole  internal  form  of  the  skidl  is  sur- 
prisingly great.  The  brain  is  modified  in  a  corresponding  manner, 
as  is  shown  in  the  two  longitudinal  sections,  which  deserve  atten- 
tive consideration.  The  upper  and  anterior  cavity  of  the  three  into 
which  the  skull  may  be  divided,  is  the  one  which  is  so  greatly 
modified ;  it  is  evidently  much  larger  than  in  the  Cochin  skull  of 
the  same  size,  and  extends  much  further  beyond  the  interorbital 
septum,  but  laterally  is  less  deep.  Whether  this  cavity  is  entirely 
filled  by  the  brain,  may  be  doubted.     In  the  skull  of  the  Cochin 


69  See  Mr.  Tegetmeier's  account,  with  1.  p.  2S7.  M.  C.  Dareste  suspects  ('  Re- 
woodcuts,  of  the  skull  of  Polish  fowls,  in  cherches  sur  les  Conditions  de  la  Vie,' 
'Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,'  Nov.  25th,  1856.  For  &&,  Lille,  1863,  p.  3G)  that  the  protube- 
other  references,  see  Isid.  Geoffroy  Saint  ranee  is  not  formed  by  the  frontal  bones, 
Ililaire,  '  Ilist.  Gen.  des  Anomalies,'  torn.  but  by  the  ossification  of  the  dura  mater. 


318 


FOWLS. 


Chap.  VII. 


and  of  all  ordinary  fowls  a  strong  internal  ridge  of  bone  separates 
the  anterior  from  the  central  cavity ;  but  this  ridge  is  entirely  ab- 
sent in  the  Polish  skull  here  figured.  The  shape  of  the  central 
cavity  is  circular  in  the  Polish,  and  lengthened  in  the  Cochin  skull. 


Pig.  35. — Longitudinal  sections  of  Skull,  of  natural  size,  viewed  laterally.  A. 
Polish  Cock.  B.  Cochin  Cock,  selected  for  comparison  with  the  above 
from  being  of  nearly  the  same  size. 

The  shape  of  the  posterior  cavity,  together  with  the  position,  size, 
and  number  of  the  pores  for  the  nerves,  differ  much  in  these  two 
skulls.  A  pit  deeply  penetrating  the  occipital  bone  of  the  Cochin 
is  entirely  absent  in  this  Polish  skull,  whilst  in  another  specimen 
it  was  well  developed.  In  this  second  specimen  the  whole  internal 
surface  of  the  posterior  cavity  likewise  differs  to  a  certain  extent  in 
shape.  I  made  sections  of  two  other  skulls, — namely,  of  a  Polish 
fowl  with  the  protuberance  singularly  little  developed,  and  of  a 
Sultan  in  which  it  was  a  little  more  developed;  and  when  these 
two  skulls  were  placed  between  the  two  above  figured  (fig.  35),  a 
perfect  gradation  in  the  configuration  of  each  part  of  the  internal 
surface  could  be  traced.  In  the  Polish  skull,  with  a  small  protu- 
berance, the  ridge  between  the  anterior  and  middle  cavities  was 


Chap.  vii.  OSTEOLOGICAL   DIFFERENCES.  319 

present,  but  low ;  and  in  the  Sultan  this  ridge  was  replaced  by  a 
narrow  furrow  standing  on  a  broad  raised  eminence. 

It  may  naturally  be  asked  whether  these  remarkable  modifica- 
tions in  the  form  of  the  brain  affect  the  intellect  of  Polish  fowls  ; 
some  writers  have  stated  that  they  are  extremely  stupid,  but  Bech- 
steia  and  Mr.  Tegetmeier  have  shown  that  this  is  by  no  means 
generally  the  case.  Nevertheless  Bechstein69  states  that  he  had  a 
Polish  hen  which  "  was  crazy,  and  anxiously  wandered  about  all 
day  long."  A  hen  in  my  possession  was  solitary  in  her  habits,  and 
was  often  so  absorbed  in  reverie  that  she  could  be  touched  ;  she 
was  also  deficient  in  the  most  singular  manner  in  the  faculty  of 
finding  her  way,  so  that,  if  she  strayed  a  hundred  yards  from  her 
feeding-place,  she  was  completely  lost,  and  would  then  obstinately 
try  to  proceed  in  a  wrong  direction.  I  have  received  other  and 
similar  accounts  of  Polish  fowls  appearing  stupid  or  half-idiotic.70 

To  return  to  the  skull.  The  posterior  part,  viewed  externally, 
differs  little  from  that  of  G.  bankii-a.  In  most  fowls  the  posterior- 
lateral  process  of  the  frontal  bone  and  the  process  of  the  squamosal 
bone  run  together  and  are  ossified  near  their  extremities  :  this 
onion  of  the  two  bones,  however,  is  not  constant  in  any  breed ; 
and  in  eleven  out  of  fourteen  skulls  of  crested  breeds,  these  pro- 
cesses were  quite  distinct.  These  processes,  when  not  united, 
instead  of  being  inclined  anteriorly  as  in  all  common  breeds, 
descend  at  right  angles  to  the  lower  jaw ;  and  in  this  case  the 
longer  axis  of  the  bony  cavity  of  the  ear  is  likewise  more  perpen- 
dicular than  in  other  breeds.  When  the  squamosal  process  is  free, 
instead  of  expanding  at  the  tip,  it  is  reduced  to  an  extremely  fine 
and  pointed  style,  of  variable  length.  The  pterygoid  and  quadrate 
bones  present  no  difference.  The  palatine  bones  are  a  little  more 
curved  upwards  at  their  posterior  ends.  The  frontal  bones,  an- 
teriorly to  the  protuberance,  are,  as  in  Dorkings,  very  broad,  but  in 
a  variable  degree.  The  nasal  bones  either  stand  far  apart,  as  in 
Hamburghs,  or  almost  touch  each  other,  and  in  one  instance  were 
ossified  together.  Each  nasal  bone  properly  sends  out  in  front  two 
long  processes  of  equal  lengths,  forming  a  fork ;  but  in  all  the 
Polish  skulls,  except  one,  the  inner  process  was  considerably,  but 
in  a  variable  degree,  shortened  and  somewhat  upturned.  In  all  the 
skulls,  except  one,  the  two  ascending  branches  of  the  premaxillary, 
instead  of  running  up  between  the  processes  of  the  nasal  bones 
and  resting  on  the  ethmoid  bone,  are  much  shortened  and  terminate 


••    '  Naturpeschichte    Deutsclilands,'        have  received  communications  to  a  si- 
Band  iii.  (1793),  s.  400.  milar    effect   from  Messrs.   Brent    and 
7°   The  'Field,'   May  11th,  18G1.      I        Tegetmeier. 


320 


FOWLS. 


Chap.  VII. 


in  a  blunt,  somewhat  upturned  point.  In  those  skulls  in  which' 
the  nasal  bones  approach  quite  close  to  each  other  or  are  ossified 
together,  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  ascending  branches  of  the 
premaxillary  to  reach  the  ethmoid  and  frontal  bones  ;  hence  we  see 
that  even  the  relative  connection  of  the  bones  has  been  changed. 
Apparently  in  consequence  of  the  branches  of  the  premaxillary  and 
of  the  inner  processes  of  the  nasal  bones  being  somewhat  upturned, 
the  external  orifices  of  the  nostrils  are  upraised  and  assume  a  cre- 
scentic  outline. 


Fig.  36. 


-Skull  of  Horned  Fowl,  of  natural  size,  viewed  from  above,  a  little 
obliquely.     (In  the  possession  of  Mr.  Tegetmeier.) 


I  must  still  say  a  few  words  on  some  of  the  foreign  Crested 
breeds.  The  skull  of  a  crested,  rumpless,  white  Turkish  fowl  is 
very  slightly  protuberant,  and  but  little  perforated  ;  the  ascending 
branches  of  the  premaxillary  are  well  developed.  In  another  Tur- 
kish breed,  called  Ghoondooks,  the  skull  is  considerably  protuberant 
and  perforated  ;  the  ascending  branches  of  tbe  premaxillary  are  so 
much  aborted  that  they  project  only  j5th  of  an  inch ;  and  the  inner 
processes  of  the  nasal  bone  are  so  completely  aborted,  that  the  sur- 
face where  they  should  have  projected  is  quite  smooth.  Here  then 
we  see  these  two  bones  modified  to  an  extreme  degree.  Of  Sultans 
(another  Turkish  breed)  I  examined  two  skulls  ;  in  that  of  the 
female  the  protuberance  was  much  larger  than  in  the  male.  In 
both  skulls  the  ascending  branches  of  the  premaxillary  were  very 
short,  and  in  both  the  basal  portion  of  the  inner  processes  of  the 
nasal  bones  were  ossified  together.  These  Sultan  skulls  differed 
from  those  of  English  Polish  fowls  in  the  frontal  bones,  anteriorly 
to  the  protuberance,  not  being  broad. 

The  last  skull  which  I  need  describe  is  a  unique  one,  lent  to  me 


Chap.  VII.  OSTEOLOGICAL    DIFFERENCES.  321 

by  Mr.  Tegetmeier  :  it  resembles  a  Polisb  skull  in  most  of  its  cha- 
racters, but  has  not  tbe  great  frontal  protuberance  ;  it  lias,  however, 
two  rounded  knobs  of  a  different  nature,  which  stand  more  in  front, 
above  the  lachrymal  bones.  These  curious  knobs,  into  which  the 
brain  does  not  enter,  are  separated  from  each  other  by  a  deep  me- 
dial furrow  ;  and  this  is  perforated  by  a  few  minute  pores.  The 
nasal  bones  stand  rather  wide  apart,  with  their  inner  processes,  and 
the  ascending  branches  of  tbe  premaxillary,  upturned  and  shortened. 
The  two  knobs  no  doubt  supported  the  two  great  horn-like  pro- 
jections of  the  comb. 

From  the  foregoing  facts  we  see  in  how  astonishing  a  manner 
some  of  the  bones  of  the  skull  vary  in  Crested  fowls.  The  protube- 
rance may  certainly  be  called  in  one  sense  a  monstrosity,  as  being 
wholly  unlike  anything  observed  in  nature  :  but  as  in  ordinary 
cases  it  is  not  injurious  to  the  bird,  and  as  it  is  strictly  inherited,  it 
can  hardly  in  another  sense  be  called  a  monstrosity.  A  series  may 
be  formed  commencing  with  the  black- boned  Silk  fowl,  which  has 
a  very  small  crest  with  the  skull  beneath  penetrated  only  by  a  few 
minute  orifices,  but  with  no  other  change  in  its  structure ;  and  from 
this  first  stage  we  may  proceed  to  fowls  with  a  moderately  large 
crest,  which  rests,  according  to  Bechstcin,  on  a  fleshy  mass,  but 
without  any  protuberance  in  the  skull.  I  may  add  that  I  have  seen 
a  similar  fleshy  or  fibrous  mass  beneath  the  tuft  of  feathers  on  the 
head  of  the  Tufted  duck  ;  and  in  tliis  case  there  was  aio  actual  pro- 
tuberance in  the  skull,  but  it  had  become  a  little  more  globular. 
Lastly,  when  we  come  to  fowls  with  a  largely  developed  crest,  the 
skull  becomes  largely  protuberant  and  is  perforated  by  a  multitude 
of  irregular  open  spaces.  The  close  relation  between  the  crest  and 
the  size  of  the  bony  protuberance  is  shown  in  another  way ;  for 
Mr.  Tegetmeier  informs  me  that  if  chickens  lately  hatched  be  select- 
ed with  a  large  bony  protuberance,  when  adult  they  will  have  a 
large  crest.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  former  times  the  breed- 
er of  Polish  fowls  attended  solely  to  the  crest,  and  not  to  the  skull ; 
nevertheless,  by  increasing  the  crest,  in  which  he  has  wonderfully 
succeeded,  he  has  unintentionally  made  the  skull  protuberant  to  an 
astonishing  degree  ;  and  through  correlation  of  growth,  he  has  at 
the  same  time  affected  the  form  and  relative  connexion  of  the  pre- 
maxillary and  nasal  bones,  the  shape  of  the  orifice  of  the  nose,  the 
breadth  of  the  frontal  bones,  the  shape  of  the  post-lateral  processes 
of  the  frontal  and  squamosal  bones,  the  direction  of  the  axis  of  the 
bony  cavity  of  the  ear,  and  lastly  the  internal  configuration  of  the 
whole  skull  together  with  tbe  shape  of  the  brain. 

Vertebra. — In  G.  bankica  there  are  fourteen  cer%*ical,  seven  dorsal 
with  ribs,  apparently  fifteen  lumbar  and  sacral,  and  six  caudal  ver- 
14* 


322  FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

tebrae  ; 71  but  the  lumbar  and  sacral  are  so  much  anchylosed  that  I 
am  not  sure  of  their  number,  and  this  makes  the  comparison  of  the 
total  number  of  vertebra?  in  the  several  breeds  difficult.  I  have 
spoken  of  six  caudal  vertebrae,  because  the  basal  one  is  almost  com- 
pletely anchylosed  with  the  pelvis  ;  but  if  we  consider  the  number 
as  seven,  the  caudal  vertebras  agree  in  all  the  skeletons.  The  cer- 
vical vertebrae  are,  as  just  stated,  in  appearance  fourteen ;  but  out 
of  twenty-three  skeletons  in  a  fit  state  for  examination,  in  five  of 
them,  namely,  m  two  Games,  in  two  pencilled  Harnburghs,  and  in 
a  Polish,  the  fourteenth  vertebra  bore  ribs,  which,  though  small 
were  perfectly  developed  with  a  double  articulation.  The  presence 
of  these  little  ribs  cannot  be  considered  as  a  fact  of  much  impor- 
tance, for  all  the  cervical  vertebras  bear  representatives  of  ribs ;  but 
their  development  in  the  fourteenth  vertebra  reduces  the  size  of 
the  passages  in  the  transverse  processes,  and  makes  this  vertebra 
exactly  like  the  first  dorsal  vertebra.  The  addition  of  these  little 
ribs  does  not  affect  the  fourteenth  cervical  alone,  for  properly  the 
ribs  of  the  first  true  dorsal  vertebra  are  destitute  of  processes  ;  but 
in  some  of  the  skeletons  in  which  the  fourteenth  cervical  bore  little 
ribs,  the  first  pair  of  true  ribs  had  well-developed  processes.  When 
we  know  that  the  sparrow  has  only  nine,  and  the  swan  twenty-three 
cervical  vertebrae,72  we  need  feel  no  surprise  at  the  number  of  the 
cervical  vertebrae  in  the  fowl  being,  as  it  appears,  variable. 

There  are  seven  dorsal  vertebrae  bearing  ribs  ;  the  first  dorsal  is 
never  anchylosed  with  the  succeeding  four,  which  are  generally 
anchylosed  together.  In  one  Sultan  fowl,  however,  the  two  first 
dorsal  vertebrae  were  free.  In  two  skeletons,  the  fifth  dorsal  was 
free;  generally  the  sixth  is  free  (as  in  O.  bamkwa),  but  sometimes 
only  at  its  posterior  end,  where  in  contact  with  the  seventh.  The 
seventh  dorsal  vertebra,  in  every  case  excepting  in  one  Spanish 
cock,  was  anchylosed  with  the  lumbar  vertebrae.  So  that  the  degree 
to  which  these  middle  dorsal  vertebrae  are  anchylosed  together  is 
variable. 

Seven  is  the  normal  number  of  true  ribs,  but  in  two  skeletons  of 
the  Sultan  fowl  (in  which  the  fourteenth  cervical  vertebra  was  not 
furnished  with  little  ribs)  there  were  eight  pairs  ;  the  eighth  pair 
seemed  to  be  developed  on  a  vertebra  corresponding  with  the  first  lum- 
bar in  G.  ba?ikiva  ;  the  sternal  portion  of  both  the  seventh  and  eighth 
ribs  did  not  reach  the  sternum.     In  four  skeletons  in  which  ribs 


71  It  appears  that  I  have  not  correctly  15  lumbar,  and  6  caudal  vertebrae  in  this 

designated  the  several  groups  of  verte-  genus.     But  I  have  used  the  same  terms 

bras,  for  a  great  authority,  Mr.  W.  K.  in  all  the  following  descriptions. 
Parker  ('Transact.  Zoolog.  Soc.,'  vol.  v.  72  Macgillivray,  'British  Birds,'  vol. 

p.  19S),  specifies  16  cervical,  4  dorsal,  i.  p.  25. 


Chap.  VIL  OSTEOLOGICAL    DIFFERENCES.  323 

• 
were  developed  on  the  fourteenth  cervical  vertebra,  there  were,  when 
these  cervical  ribs  are  included,  eight  pairs  ;  but  in  one  Game-cock, 
in  which  the  fourteenth  cervical  was  furnished  with  ribs,  there  were 
only  six  pairs  of  true  dorsal  ribs  ;  the  sixth  pair  in  this  case  did  not 
have  processes,  and  thus  resembled  the  seventh  pair  in  other  skele- 
tons ;  in  this  game-cock,  as  far  as  could  be  judged  from  the  appear- 
ance of  the  lumbar  vertebrae,  a  whole  dorsal  vertebra  with  its  ribs 
was  missing.  We  thus  see  that  the  ribs  (whether  or  not  the  little 
pair  attached  to  the  fourteenth  cervical  vertebra  be  counted)  vary 
from  six  to  eight  pair.  The  sixth  pair  is  frequently  not  furnished 
with  processes.  The  sternal  portion  of  the  seventh  pair  is  extreme- 
ly broad  in  Cochins,  and  is  completely  ossified.  As  previously  stated, 
it  is  scarcely  possible  to  count  the  lumbo-sacral  vertebra?  ;  but  they 
certainly  do  not  correspond  in  shape  or  number  in  the  several  skele- 
tons. The  caudal  vertebrae  are  closely  similar  in  all  the  skeletons, 
the  only  difference  being,  whether  or  not  the  basal  one  is  anchylosed 
to  the  pelvis ;  they  hardly  vary  even  in  length,  not  being  shorter  in 
Cochins,  with  their  short  tail-feathers,  than  in  other  breeds ;  in  a 
Spanish  cock,  however,  the  caudal  vertebrae  were  a  little  elongated. 
In  three  rumpless  fowls  the  caudal  vertebrae  were  few  in  number, 
and  anchylosed  together  into  a  misformed  mass. 

In  the  individual  vertebrae  the  differences  in  structure  are  very 
slight.  In  the  atlas  the  cavity  for  the  oc- 
cipital condyle  is  either  ossified  into  a  ring, 
or  is,  as  in  Bankiva,  open  on  its  upper 
margin.  The  upper  arc  of  the  spinal  ca- 
nal is  a  little  more  arched  in  Cochins,  in 
conformity  with  the  shape  of  occipital 
foramen,  than  in  G.  bankiva.  In  several 
skeletons  a  difference,  but  not  of  much 
importance,  may  be  observed,  which  com- 
mences at  the  fourth  cervical  vertebra, 

and  is  greatest  at  about  the  sixth,  seventh, 

.    ,  .  .         .        ,  tebra,  of  natural  size,  viewed 

or  eighth  vertebra;   this  consists  in  the      ,aterally-    A.  wild  GaUm 

haemal  descending  processes  being  united      bankiva.    B.  Cochin  Cock. 
to  the  body  of  the  vertebra  by  a  sort  of 

buttress.  This  structure  may  be  observed  in  Cochins,  Polish,  some 
Hamburghs,  and  probably  other  breeds ;  but  is  absent,  or  barely 
developed,  in  Game,  Dorking,  Spanish,  Bantam,  and  several  other 
breeds  examined  by  me.  On  the  dorsal  surface  of  the  sixth  cervical 
vertebra  in  Cochins  three  prominent  points  are  more  strongly  de- 
veloped than  in  the  corresponding  vertebra  of  the  Game-fowl  or  G. 
hi  1 1  Idea. 

Pelvis. — This  differs  in  some  few  points  in  the  several  skeletons. 


37.— Sixth  Cervical  Ver- 


324 


FOWLS. 


Chap.  TIL 


The  anterior  margin  of  the  ilium  seems  at  first  to  vary  much  in 
outline,  but  this  is  chiefly  due  to  the  degree  to  which  the  margin  in 
the  middle  part  is  ossified  to  the  crest  of  the  spine ;  the  outline, 
however,  does  differ  in  being  more  truncated  in  Bantams,  and  more 
rounded  in  certain  breeds,  as  in  Cochins.  The  outline  of  the  ischi- 
adic foramen  differs  considerably,  being  nearly  circular  in  Bantams, 
instead  of  egg-shaped  as  in  the  Bankiva,  and  more  regularly  oval  in 
some  skeletons,  as  in  the  Spanish.  The  obturator  notch  is  also  much 
less  elongated  in  some  skeletons  than  in  others.  The  end  of  the 
pubic  bone  presents  the  greatest  difference ;  being  hardly  enlarged 
in  the  Bankiva ;  considerably  and  gradually  enlarged  in  Cochins, 
and  in  a  lesser  degree  in  some  other  breeds ;  and  abruptly  enlarged 
in  Bantams.  In  one  Bantam  this  bone  extended  very  little  beyond 
the  extremity  of  the  ischium.  The  whole  pelvis  in  this  latter  bird 
differed  widely  in  its  proportions,  being  far  broader  proportionally  to 
its  length  than  in  Bankiva. 

Sternum. — This  bone  is  generally  so  much  deformed  that  it  is 
scarcely  possible  to  compare  its  form  strictly  in  the  several  breeds. 

The  shape  of  the  triangular  ex- 
tremity of  the  lateral  processes 
differs  considerably,  being  either 
almost  equilateral  or  much  elon- 
gated. The  front  margin  of  the 
crest  is  more  or  less  perpendicu- 
lar and  varies  greatly,  as  does 
the  curvature  of  the  posterior 
end,  and  the  flatness  of  the  low- 
er surface.  The  outline  of  the 
manubrial  process  also  varies, 
being  wedge-shaped  in  the  Ban- 
kiva, and  rounded  in  the  Spanish 
breed.  Thrfurcula  differs  in  be- 
ing more  or  less  arched,  and 
greatly,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
accompanying  outlines,  in  the 
shape  of  the  terminal  plate  ;  but 
the  shape  of  this  part  differed  a 
little  in  two  skeletons  of  the 
wild  Bankiva.  The  coracoids 
present  no  difference  worth  no- 
tice. The  scapula  varies  in  shape, 
being  of  nearly  uniform  breadth 
in  Bankiva,  much  broader  in  the 
middle  in  the  Polish  fowl,  and 
abruptly  narrowed  towards  the  apex  in  the  two  Sultan  fowls. 


Fig.  38.— Extremity  of  the  Furcula,  of 
natural  size, viewed  laterally.  A.  Wild 
Gallus  bankiva.  B.  Spangled  Polish 
Fowl.  C.  Spanish  Fowl.  D.  Dorking 
Fowl. 


Chap,  vii.  OSTEOLOGICAL    DIFFERENCES.  325 

I  carefully  cornj>ared  each  separate  bone  of  the  leg  and  wing,  rela- 
tively to  the  snrae  bones  in  the  wild  Bankiva.  in  the  following  breeds, 
which  I  thought  were  the  most  likely  to  differ  ;  namely,  in  Cochin, 
Dorking-,  Spanish,  Polish,  Burmese  Bantam,  Frizzled  Indian,  and 
black-boned  Silk  fowls  ;  and  it  was  truly  surprising  to  see  how  abso- 
lutely every  process,  articulation,  and  pore  agreed,  though  the  bones 
differed  greatly  in  size.  The  agreement  is  far  more  absolute  than 
in  other  parts  of  the  skeleton.  In  stating  this,  I  do  not  refer  to  the 
relative  thickness  and  length  of  the  several  bones ;  for  the  tarsi  va- 
ried considerably  in  both  these  respects.  But  the  other  limb-bones 
varied  little  even  in  relative  length. 

Finally,  I  have  not  examined  a  sufficient  number  of 
skeletons  to  say  whether  any  of  the  foregoing  differen- 
ces except  in  the  skull,  are  characteristic  of  the  several 
breeds.  Apparently  some  differences  are  more  common 
in  certain  breeds  than  in  others, — as  an  additional  rib 
to  the  fourteenth  cervical  vertebra  in  Hamburgh s  and 
Games,  and  the  breadth  of  the  end  of  the  pubic  bone  in 
Cochins.  Both  skeletons  of  the  Sultan  fowl  had  eight 
d  >real  vertebrae,  and  the  end  of  the  scapula  in  both  was 
somewhat  attenuated.  In  the  skull,  the  deep  medial  fur- 
row in  the  frontal  bones  and  the  vertically  elongated  oc- 
cipital foramen  seem  to  be  characteristic  of  Cochins ;  as 
is  the  great  breadth  of  the  frontal  bones  in  Dorkings ; 
the  separation  and  open  spaces  between  the  tips  of  the 
ascending  branches  of  the  premaxillaries  and  nasal  bones, 
as  well  as  the  front  part  of  the  skull  being  but  little  de- 
pressed, characterise  Hamburghs  ;  the  globular  shape  of 
the  posterior  part  of  the  skull  seems  to  be  characteristic 
of  laced  Bantams  ;  and  lastly,  the  protuberance  of  the 
skull  with  the  ascending  branches  of  the  premaxillaries 
partially  aborted,  together  with  the  other  differences  be- 
fore specified,  are  eminently  characteristic  of  Polish  and 
other  Crested  fowls. 

But  the  most  striking  result  of  our  examination  of  the 
skeleton  is  the  great  variability  of  all  the  bones  except 
those  of  the  extremities.  To  a  certain  extent  we  can 
understand  why  the  skeleton  fluctuates  so  much  in  struc- 


326  FOWLS,  Chap.  V1L 

ture ;  fowls  have  been  exposed  to  unnatural  conditions 
of  life,  and  their  whole  organisation  has  thus  been  render- 
ed variable ;  but  the  breeder  is  quite  indifferent  to,  and 
never  intentionally  selects,  any  modifications  in  the  ske- 
leton. External  characters,  if  not  attended  to  by  man, — 
such  as  the  number  of  the  tail  and  wing  feathers  and 
their  relative  lengths,  which  in  wild  birds  are  generally 
constant  points, — fluctuate  in  our  domestic  fowls  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  several  parts  of  the  skeleton.  An 
additional  toe  is  a  "  point "  in  Dorkings,  and  has  become 
a  fixed  character,  but  is  variable  in  Cochins  and  Silk- 
fowls.  The  colour  of  the  plumage  and  the  form  of  the 
comb  are  in  most  breeds,  or  even  sub-breeds,  eminently 
fixed  characters  ;  but  in  Dorkings  these  points  have  not 
been  attended  to,  and  are  variable.  When  any  modifica- 
tion in  the  skeleton  is  related  to  some  external  charac- 
ter which  man  values,  it  has  been,  unintentionally  on  his 
part,  acted  on  by  selection,  and  has  become  more  or  less 
fixed.  We  see  this  in  the  wonderful  protuberance  of  the 
skull,  which  supports  the  crest  of  feathers  in  Polish  fowls, 
and  which  by  correlation  has  affected  other  parts  of  the 
skull.  We  see  the  same  result  in  the  two  protuberances 
which  support  the  horns  in  the  horned  fowl,  and  in  the 
flattened  shape  of  the  front  of  the  skull  in  Hamburgh s 
consequent  on  their  flattened  and  broad  "rose-combs." 
We  know  not  in  the  least  whether  additional  ribs,  or 
the  changed  outline  of  the  occipital  foramen,  or  the 
changed  form  of  the  scapula,  or  of  the  extremity  of  the 
furcula,  are  in  any  way  correlated  with  other  structures, 
or  have  arisen  from  the  changed  conditions  and  habits 
of  life  to  which  our  fowls  have  been  subjected ;  but  there 
is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  these  various  modifications  in 
the  skeleton  could  be  rendered,  either  by  direct  selection, 
or  by  the  selection  of  correlated  structures,  as  constant 
and  as  characteristic  of  each  breed,  as  are  the  size  and 
shape  of  the  body,  the  colour  of  the  plumage,  and  the 
form  of  the  comb. 


Chap.  vii.  THE   EFFECTS    OF    DISUSE.  327 


Effects  of  the  Disuse  of  Parts. 

Judging  from  the  habits  of  our  European  gallinaceous  birds,  Gal- 
hu  bankvoa  in  its  native  haunts  would  use  its  legs  and  wings  more 
than  do  our  domestic  fowls,  which  rarely  fly  except  to  their  roosts. 
The  Silk  and  the  Frizzled  fowls,  from  having  imperfect  wing-feath- 
ers, cannot  fly  at  all ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  both  these 
breeds  are  ancient,  so  that  their  progenitors  during  many  genera- 
tions cannot  have  flown.  The  Cochins,  also,  from  their  short  wings 
and  heavy  bodies,  can  hardly  fly  up  to  a  low  perch.  Therefore  in 
these  breeds,  especially  in  the  two  first,  a  considerable  diminution 
in  the  wing-bones  might  have  been  expected,  but  this  is  not  the 
case.  In  every  specimen,  after  disarticulating  and  cleaning  the 
bones,  I  carefully  compared  the  relative  length  of  the  two  main 
bones  of  the  wing  to  each  other,  and  of  the  two  main  bones  of  the 
leg  to  each  other,  with  those  of  G.  bankim  ;  and  it  was  surprising  to 
see  (except  in  the  case  of  the  tarsi)  how  exactly  the  same  relative 
length  had  been  retained.  This  fact  is  curious,  from  showing  how 
truly  the  proportions  of  an  organ  may  be  inherited,  although  not  fully 
exercised  during  many  generations.  I  then  compared  in  several 
breeds  the  length  of  the  femur  and  tibia  with  the  humerus  and  ulna 
and  likewise  these  same  bones  with  those  of  G.  banldca  ;  the  result 
was  that  the  wing  bones  in  all  the  breeds  (except  the  Burmese 
Jumper,  which  has  unnaturally  short  legs)  are  slightly  shortened  re- 
latively to  the  leg-bones ;  but  the  decrease  is  so  slight  that  it  may  be 
due  to  the  standard  specimen  of  G.  baukka  having  accidentally  had 
wings  of  slightly  greater  length  than  usual ;  so  that  the  measure- 
ments are  not  worth  giving.  But  it  deserves  notice  that  the  Silk 
and  Frizzled  fowls,  which  are  quite  incapable  of  flight,  had  their 
wings  less  reduced  relatively  to  their  legs  than  in  almost  any  other 
breed  !  We  have  seen  with  domesticated  pigeons  that  the  bones  of 
the  wing's  are  somewhat  reduced  in  length,  whilst  the  primary 
feathers  are  rather  increased  in  length,  and  it  is  just  possible,  though 
not  probable,  that  in  the  Silk  and  Frizzled  fowls  any  tendency  to 
decrease  in  the  length  of  the  wing-bones  "from  disuse  may  have 
been  checked  through  the  law  of  compensation,  by  the  decreased 
growth  of  the  wing  feathers,  and  consequent  increased  supply  of 
nutriment.  The  wing-bones,  however,  in  both  these  breeds,  are 
found  to  be  slightly  reduced  in  length  when  judged  by  the  standard 
of  the  length  of  the  sternum  or  head,  relatively  to  these  same  parts 
in  G.  banJ.irn. 

The  actual  weight  of  the  main  bones  of  the  leg  and  wing  in 
twelve  breeds  is  given  in  the  two  first  columns  in  the  following 
table.     The  calculated  weight  of  the  wing-bones  relatively  to  the 


328 


FOWLS. 


Chap.  VII. 


leg-bones,  in  comparison  with  the  leg  and  wing-bones  of  G.  bankica, 
are  given  in  the  third  column, — the  weight  of  the  wing-bones  in 
O.  bankiva  being  called  a  hundred.73 

Table  I. 


Weight  of 

Wing- 

bones  rela- 

Names of  Breeds. 

Actual 
Weight  of 
Femur  and 

Actual 

Weight  of 
Humerus 

tively  to 
the  Leg- 
bones,  in 

Tibia. 

and  Ulna. 

compari- 
son with 
these  same 
bones  in  G. 
bankiva. 

Grains. 

Grains. 

I 

G  alius  bankiva  . .     . .  wild  male 

86 

54 

100 

1 

Cochin male 

311 

162 

83 

2 

Dorking       male 

557 

248 

70 

3 

Spanish  (Minorca)    . .  male 

386 

183 

75 

4 

Gold  Spangled  Polish  male 

306 

145 

75 

5 

Game,  black-breasted  male 

293 

143 

77 

6 

Malay     female 

231 

116 

80 

7 

189 

94 

79 

8 

Indian  Frizzled  . .     . .  male 

206 

88 

67 

9 

Burmese  Jumper      . .  female 

53 

36 

108 

10 

Hamburgh  (pencilled)  male 

157 

104 

106 

11 

Hamburgh  (pencilled)  female 

114 

77 

108 

18 

Silk  (black-boned)    . .  female 

88 

57 

103 

In  the  eight  first  birds,  belonging  to  distinct  breeds,  in  this  table, 
we  see  a  decided  reduction  in  the  weight  of  the  bones  of  the  wing. 
In  the  Indian  Frizzled  fowl,  which  cannot  fly,  the  reduction  is  car- 
ried to  the  greatest  extent,  namely,  to  thirty-three  per  cent,  of  their 
proper  proportional  weight.  In  the  next  four  birds,  including  the 
Silk-hen,  which  is  incapable  of  flight,  we  see  that  the  wings,  rela- 
tively to  the  legs/are  slightly  increased  in  weight ;  but  it  should  be 


73  It  may  be  well  to  explain  how  the 
calculation  has  been  made  for  the  third 
column.  In  G.  bankiva  the  leg-bones 
are  to  the  wing-bones  as  86  :  54,  or 
as  (neglecting  decimals)  100  :  G2  ; — in 
Cochins  as  311  :  102,  or  as  100  :  52  ;— in 
Dorkings  as  557  ;  248,  or  as  100  :  44 ; 
and  so  on  for  the  other  breeds.  We  thus 
get  the  series  of  62, 52, 44  for  the  relative 


weights  of  the  wing-bcnesin  G.  bankiva, 
Cochins,  Dorkings,  &c.  And  now  tak- 
ing 100,  instead  of  G2,  for  the  weight  of 
the  wing-bones  in  G.  bankiva,  we  get, 
by  another  rule  of  three,  83  as  the  weight 
of  the  wing-bones  in  Cochins  ;  70  in  the 
Dorkings  ;  and  so  on  for  the  remainder 
of  the  third  column  in  the  table. 


Chap.  VII.  THE    EFFECTS    OF    DISUSE.  329 

observed  that,  if  in  these  birds  the  legs  had  become  from  any  cause 
reduced  in  weight,  this  would  give  the  false  appearance  of  the  wings 
having  increased  in  relative  weight.  Now  a  reduction  of  this  na- 
ture has  certainly  occurred  with  the  Burmese  Jumper,  in  which  the 
legs  are  abnormally  short,  and  in  the  two  Hamburghs  and  Silk 
fowl,  the  legs,  though  not  short,  are  formed  of  remarkably  thin  and 
light  bones.  I  make  these  statements,  not  judging  by  mere  eye- 
sight, but  after  having  calculated  the  weights  of  the  leg-bones  rela- 
tively to  those  of  G.  bankiva,  according  to  the  only  two  standards 
of  comparison  which  I  could  use,  namely,  the  relative  lengths  of 
the  head  and  sternum  ;  for  I  do  not  know  the  weight  of  the  body  in 
G.  bankiva,  which  would  have  been  a  better  standard.  According 
to  these  standards,  the  leg-bones  in  these  four  fowls  are  in  a  marked 
manner  far  lighter  than  in  any  other  breed.  It  may  therefore  be 
concluded  that  in  all  cases  in  which  the  legs  have  not  been  through 
some  unknown  cause  much  reduced  in  weight,  the  wing-bones  have 
become  reduced  in  weight  relatively  to  the  leg-bones,  in  comparison 
with  those  of  G.  bankiva.  And  this  reduction  of  weight  may,  I  ap- 
prehend, safely  be  attributed  to  disuse. 

To  make  the  foregoing  table  quite  satisfactory,  it  ought  to  have 
been  shown  that  in  the  eight  first  birds  the  leg-bones  have  not  ac- 
tually increased  in  weight  out  of  due  proportion  with  the  rest  of  the 
body  ;  this  I  cannot  show,  from  not  knowing,  as  already  remarked, 
the  weight  of  the  wild  Bankiva.74  I  am  indeed  inclined  to  suspect 
that  the  leg-bones  in  the  Dorking,  No.  2  in  the  table,  are  proportion- 
ally too  heavy  ;  but  this  bird  was  a  very  large  one,  weighing  7  lb. 
2  oz.,  though  very  thin.  Its  leg-bones  were  more  than  ten  times  as 
heavy  as  those  of  the  Burmese  Jumper !  I  tried  to  ascertain  the 
length  both  of  the  leg-bones  and  wing-bones  relatively  to  other 
parts  of  the  body  and  skeleton  ;  but  the  whole  organisation  in  these 
birds,  which  have  been  so  long  domesticated,  has  become  so  variable, 
that  no  certain  conclusions  could  be  reached.  For  instance,  the  legs 
of  the  above  Dorking  cock  were  nearly  three-quarters  of  an  inch  too 
short  relatively  to  the  length  of  the  sternum  ;  and  more  than  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch  too  long  relatively  to  the  length  of  the  skull,  in 
comparison  with  these  same  parts  in  G.  bankiva. 

In  the  following  Table  II.  in  the  two  first  columns  we  see  in  inches 
and  decimals  the  length  of  the  sternum,  and  the  extreme  depth  of 
its  crest  to  which  the  pectoral  muscles  are  attached.     In  the  third 


M  Mr.  Blyth  (in  '  Annals  and  Hag.  of  I  have  seen  of  the  skins  and  skeletons 

Nat.  Hist.,'  2nd  series,  vol.  i.,  1S4S,  p.  of  various  breeds,  I  cannot  believe  that 

456)  gives  0}  lb.  as  the  weight  of  a  full-  my  two  specimens  of  G.  bankiva  could 

grown  male  G.  bankiva  ;  but  from  what  have  weighed  so  much. 


330 


FOWLS. 


Chap.  VII. 


column  we  have  the  calculated  depth  of  the  crest,  relatively  to  the 
length  of  the  sternum,  in  comparison  with  these  same  parts  in  O. 
bankiva.'15 

Table  II. 


Names  of  Breeds. 

Length 

of 
Sternum. 

Depth  of 

Crest 

of 

Sternum. 

Depth  of  Crest, 

relatively  to  the 

length  of  the 

Sternum,  in 

comparison  with 

G.  bankiva. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

Gallus  bankiva      . .  male 

Cochin       male 

Dorking male 

Polish male 

Game male 

Sultan        male 

Frizzled  hen    . .     . .  male 
Burmese  Juniper  . .  female 
Hamburgh       . .     . .  male 
Hamburgh      . .     . .  female 

Inches. 

4-20 
583 
695 
610 
507 
555 
5-10 
4-47 
425 
306 
5-08 
455 
449 

Inches. 

1-40 
1-55 
1-97 
1-83 
1-50 
1-55 
1-50 
1-36 
1-20 
0-85 
140 
126 
101 

100 
78 
84 
90 
.     87 
81 
87 
.  90 
84 
81 
81 
81 
66 

By  looking  to  the  third  column  we  see  that  in  every  case  the  depth 
of  the  crest  relatively  to  the  length  of  the  sternum,  in  comparison 
with  G.  bankiva,  is  diminished,  generally  between  10  and  20  per  cent. 
But  the  degree  of  reduction  varies  much,  partly  in  consequence  of 
the  frequently  deformed  state  of  the  sternum.  In  the  Silk-fowl, 
which  cannot  fly,  the  crest  is  34  per  cent,  less  deep  than  what  it 
ought  to  have  been.  This  reduction  of  the  crest  in  all  the  breeds 
probably  accounts  for  the  great  variability,  before  referred  to,  in  the 
curvature  of  the  furcula,  and  in  the  shape  of  its  sternal  extremity. 
Medical  men  believe  that  the  abnormal  form  of  the  spine  so  com- 
monly observed  in  women  of  the  higher  ranks  results  from  the  at- 
tached muscles  not  being  fully  exercised.  So  it  is  with  our  domes- 
tic fowls,  for  they  use  their  pectoral  muscles  but  little,  and,  out  of 
twenty-five  sternums  examined  by  me,  three  alone  were  perfectly 
symmetrical,  ten  were  moderately  crooked,  and  twelve  were  de- 
formed to  an  extreme  degree. 

Finally,  we  may  conclude  with  respect  to  the  various 


75  The  third  column  is  calculated  on  the  same  principle  as  explained  in  the  pre- 
vious foot-note,  p.  328. 


Chap.  vii.  CORRELATION    OF    GROWTH.  331 

breeds  of  the  fowl,  that  the  main  bones  of  the  wing  have 
probably  been  shortened  in  a  very  slight  degree^,  that 
they  have  certainly  become  lighter  relatively  to  the  leg- 
bones  in  all  the  breeds  in  which  these  latter  bones  are 
not  unnaturally  short  or  delicate;  and  that  the  crest  of 
the  sternum,  to  which  the  pectoral  muscles  are  attached, 
has  invariably  become  less  prominent,  the  whole  sternum 
being  also  extremely  liable  to  deformity.  These  results 
Ave  may  attribute  to  the  lessened  use  of  the  wings. 

Correlation  of  Groioth. — I  will  here  sum  up  the  few 
facts  which  I  have  collected  on  this  obscure,  but  impor- 
tant, subject.  In  Cochins  and  Game-fowls  there  is  some 
relation  between  the  colour  of  the  plumage  and  the  dark- 
ness of  the  egg-shell  and  even  of  the  yolk.  In  Sultans 
the  additional  sickle-feathers  in  the  tail  are  apparently 
related  to  the  general  redundancy  of  the  plumage,  as 
shown  by  the  feathered  legs,  large  crest,  aiM  beard.  In 
two  tailless  fowls  which  I  examined  the  oil-gland  was 
aborted.  A  large  crest  of  feathers,  as  Mr.  Tegetmeier 
has  remarked,  seems  always  accompanied  by  a  great 
diminution  or  almost  entire  absence  of  the  comb.  A 
large  beard  is  similarly  accompanied  by  diminished  or  ab- 
sent Avattles.  These  latter  cases  apparently  come  under 
the  law  of  compensation  or  balancement  of  growth.  A 
large  beard  beneath  the  lower  jaw  and  a  large  top-knot 
on  the  skull  often  go  together.  The  comb  when  of  any 
peculiar  shape,  as  with  Horned,  Spanish,  and  Hamburgh 
fowls,  affects  in  a  corresponding  manner  the  underlying 
skull ;  and  we  have  seen  how  wonderfully  this  is  the  case 
with  Crested  fowls  when  the  crest  is  largely  developed. 
With  the  protuberance  of  the  frontal  bones  the  shape  of 
the  internal  surface  of  the  skull  and  of  the  brain  is  great- 
ly modified.  The  presence  of  a  crest  influences  in  some 
unknown  way  the  development  of  the  ascending  branches 
of  the  premaxillary  bone,  and  of  the  inner  processes  of 
the  nasal  bones ;  and  likewise  the  shape  of  the  external 
orifice  of  the  nostrils.     There  is  a  plain  and  curious  corre- 


332  .FOWLS.  Chap.  VII. 

lation  between  a  crest  of  feathers  and  the  imperfectly  os- 
sified •condition  of  the  skull.  Not  only  does  this  hold 
good  with  nearly  all  crested  fowls,  but  likewise  with  tuft- 
ed ducks,  and  as  Dr.  Giinther  informs  me  with  tufted 
geese  in  Germany. 

Lastly,  the  feathers  composing  the  crest  in  male  Polish 
fowls  resemble  hackles,  and  differ  greatly  in  shape  from 
those  in  the  crest  of  the  female.  The  neck,  wing-coverts, 
and  loins  in  the  male  bird  are  properly  covered  with 
hackles,  and  it  would  appear  that  feathers  of  this  shape 
have  spread  by  correlation  to  the  head  of  the  male.  This 
little  fact  is  interesting ;  because,  though  both  sexes  of 
some  wild  gallinaceous  birds  have  their  heads  similarly 
ornamented,  yet  there  is  often  a  difference  in  the  size  and 
shape  of  feathers  forming  their  crests.  Furthermore 
there  is  in  some  cases,  as  in  the  male  Gold  and  in  the  male 
Amherst  pheasants  (P.  pictus  and  Amherstice),  a  close 
relation  in  colour,  as  well  as  in  structure,  between  the 
plumes  on  the  head  and  on  the  loins.  Hence  it  would 
appear  that  the  same  law  has  regulated  the  state  of  the 
feathers  on  the  head  and  body,  both  with  species  living 
under  their  natural  conditions,  and  with  birds  which  have 
varied  under  domestication. 


DOMESTIC    DUCKS.  333 


CHAPTER  Till. 

DUCKS  —  GOOSE  —  PEACOCK— TURKEY— GUINEA-FOWL  — 
CANARY-BIRD  —  GOLD-FISH  —  HIVE-BEES  —  SILK-MOTHS. 

DUCKS,  SEVERAL  BREEDS  OP  —  PROGRESS  OP  DOMESTICATION — 
ORIGIN  OF,  FROM  THE  COMMON  WILD-DUCK —  DIFFERENCES  IN 
THE  DIFFERENT  BREEDS  —  OSTEOLOGICAL  DIFFERENCES — EF- 
FECTS OF  USE  AND  DISUSE  ON  THE  LIMB-BONES. 

GOOSE,  ANCIENTLY  DOMESTICATED  —  LITTLE  VARIATION  OF  —  SE- 
BASTOPOL  BREED. 

PEACOCK,  ORIGIN  OF  BLACK-SHOULDERED  BREED. 

TURKEY,  BREEDS  OP  —  CROSSED  WITH  THE  UNITED  STATES  SPE- 
CIES — EFFECTS  OF  CLIMATE  ON. 

GUINEA-FOWL,  CANARY-BIRD,  GOLD-FISH,  HIVE-BEES. 

SILK-MOTHS,  species  and  breeds  of  —  anciently  domesti- 
cated—  CARE  IN  THEIR  SELECTION  —  DIFFERENCES  IN  THE 
DIFFERENT  RACES  —  IN  THE  EGG,  CATERPILLAR,  AND  COCOON 
STATES  —  INHERITANCE  OF  CHARACTERS  —  IMPERFECT  WINGS  — 
LOST  INSTINCTS  —  CORRELATED  CHARACTERS. 

I  will,  as  in  previous  cases,  first   briefly  describe  the 
chief  domestic  breeds  of  the  duck : — 

Breed  1.  Common  Domestic  Duck. — Varies  much  in  colour  and  in 
proportions,  and  differs  in  instincts  and  disposition  from  the  wild- 
duck.  There  are  several  sub-hreeds  : — (1)  The  Aylesbury,  of  great 
size,  white,  with  pale-yellow  beak  and  legs  ;  abdominal  sack  largely 
developed.  (2)  The  Rouen,  of  great  size,  coloured  like  the  wild- 
duck,  with  green  or  mottled  beak ;  abdominal  sack  largely  devel- 
oped. (3)  Tufted  Duck,  with  a  large  top-knot  of  fine  downy 
feathers,  supported  on  a  fleshy  mass,  with  the  skull  perforated  be- 
neath. The  top-knot  in  a  duck  which  I  imported  from  Holland  was 
two  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter.  (4)  Labrador  (or  Canadian,  or 
Buenos  Ayres,   or  East   Indian) ;   plumage  entirely  black ;   beak 


334  DOMESTIC    DUCKS.  Chap.  vra. 

broader,  relatively  to  its  length,  than  in  the  wild-duck ;  eggs 
slightly  tinted  with  black.  This  sub-breed  perhaps  ought  to  be 
ranked  as  a  breed ;  it  includes  two  sub-varieties,  one  as  large  as  the 
common  domestic  duck,  which  I  have  kept  alive,  and  the  other 
smaller  and  often  capable  of  flight.1  I  presume  it  is  this  latter  sub- 
variety  which  has  been  described  in  France 2  as  flying  well,  being 
rather  wild,  and  when  cooked  having  the  flavour  of  the  wild-duck  ; 
nevertheless  this  sub-variety  is  polygamous,  like  other  domesticated 
ducks  and  unlike  the  wild-duck.  These  black  Labrador  ducks  breed 
true ;  but  a  case  is  given  by  Dr.  Turral  of  the  French  sub-Variety 
producing  young  with  some  white  feathers  on  the  head  and  neck, 
and  with  an  ochre-coloured  patch  on  the  breast. 

Breed  2.  Hook-hilled  Duck. — This  bird  presents  an  extraordinary 
appearance  from  the  downward  curvature  of  the  beak.  The  head 
is  often  tufted.  The  common  colour  is  white,  but  some  are  coloured 
like  wild-ducks.  It  is  an  ancient  breed,  having  been  noticed  in 
1676.3  It  shows  its  prolonged  domestication  by  almost  incessantly 
laying  eggs,  like  the  fowls  which  are  called  everlasting  layers.4 

Breed  3.  Call-Duck. — Remarkable  from  its  small  size,  and  from 
the  extraordinary  loquacity  of  the  female.  Beak  short.  These 
birds  are  either  white,  or  coloured  like  the  wild-duck. 

Breed  4.  Penguin  Duck. — This  is  the  most  remarkable  of  all 
the  breeds,  and  seems  to  have  originated  in  the  Malayan  archipela 
go.  It  walks  with  its  body  extremely  erect,  and  with  its  thin  neck 
stretched  straight  upwards.  Beak  rather  short.  Tail  upturned,  in- 
cluding only  18  feathers.    Femur  and  metatarsi  elongated. 

Almost  all  naturalists  admit  that  the  several  breeds 
are  descended  from  the  common  wild  duck  (Anas  bos- 
chas)  ;  most  fanciers,  on  the  other  hand,  take  as  usual  a- 
very  different  view.6  Unless  we  deny  that  domestica- 
tion, prolonged  during  centuries,  can  affect  even  such 
unimportant  characters  as  colour,  size,  and  in  a  slight 
degree  proportional  dimensions  and  mental  disposition, 


1  '  Poultry  Chronicle '  (1854),  vol.  ii.  p.  torn.  ix.  p.  128,  says  that  moulting  and 
91,  and  vol.  i.  p.  330.  incubation  alone  stop  these  ducks  laying. 

2  Dr.  Turral, in  'Bull.  Soc.  d'Acclimat.,'  Mr.  B.  P.  Brent  makes  a  similar  remark 
torn,  vii.,  1S60,  p.  541.  in  the   '  Poultry   Chronicle,'    1S55,  vol. 

3  Willughby's  '  Ornithology,'  by  Ray,  iii.  p.  512. 

p.  381.    This  breed  is    also  figured  by  6  Rev.  E.  S.  Dixon,   '  Ornamental  and 

Albin,  in  1734,  inhis  'Nat.  Hist,  of  Birds,'  Domestic  Poultry'  (184S),  p.  117.    Mr.  B. 

vol.  ii.  p.  86.  P.  Brent,  in  '  Poultry  Chronicle,'  vol.  iii. 

4  F.  Cuvier,  in  '  Annales  du  Museum,'  1855,  p.  512. 


Chap.  VIII.  EXTERNAL    DIFFERENCES.  335 

there  is  no  reason  whatever  to  doubt  that  the  domestic 
duck  is  descended 'from  the  common  wild  species,  for  the 
one  differs  from  the  other  in  no  important  character. 
"We  have  some  historical  evidence  with  respect  to  the 
period  and  progress  of  the  domestication  of  the  duck. 
It  was  unknown 8  to  the  ancient  Egyptians,  to  the  Jews 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  to  the  Greeks  of  the  Homeric 
period.  About  eighteen  centuries  ago  Columella7  and 
Varro  speak  of  the  necessity  of  keeping  clucks  in  netted 
enclosures  like  other  wild  fowl,  so  that  at  this  period 
there  was  danger  of  their  flying  away.  Moreover,  the 
plan  recommended  by  Columella  to  those  who  might 
wish  to  increase  their  stock  of  ducks,  namely,  to  collect 
the  eggs  of  the  wild  bird  and  to  place  them  under  a  hen, 
shows,  as  Mr.  Dixon  remarks,  "  that  the  duck  had  not  at 
this  time  become  a  naturalised  and  prolific  inmate  of  the 
Roman  poultry-yard."  The  origin  of  the  domestic  duck 
from  the  wild  species  is  recognised  in  nearly  every  lan- 
guage of  Europe,  as  Aldrovandi  long  ago  remarked,  by 
the  same  name  being  applied  to  both.  The  wild  duck 
has  a  wide  range  from  the  Himalayas  to  North  America. 
It  crosses  readily  with  the  domestic  bird,  and  the  crossed 
offspring  are  perfectly  fertile. 

Both  in  North  America  and  Europe  the  wild  duck  has 
been  found  easy  to  tame  and  breed.  In  Sweden  this  ex- 
periment was  carefully  tried  by  Tiburtius  ;  he  succeeded 
in  rearing  wild  ducks  for  three  generations,  but,  though 
they  were  ti'eated  like  common  ducks,  they  did  not  vary 
even  in  a  single  feather.  The  young  birds  suffered  from 
beino:  allowed  to  swim  about  in  cold  water,8  as  is  known 


8  Crawfurd  on  the  '  Relation  of  Domes-  marked  by   Volz,  in  his  '  Beitrage  zur 

ticated  Animals  to  Civilisation,'  read  be-  Kulturgeschichte,'  1852,  s.  78. 

fore  the  Brit.  Assoc,  at  Oxford.  8  I  quote  this  account  from  '  Die  En- 

7  Dureau  de  la  Malle,  in  '  Annales  des  ten,  Schwanen-zucht,'  Ulm,  1S2S,  a.  143. 

Sciences  Nat.,'  torn.   xvii.  p.  164  ;   and  See  Audubon's  '  Ornithological  Biogra- 

tom.  xxi.  p.  55.     Rev.  E.  S.  Dixon,  'Or-  phy,'   vol.  iii.,  p.  168,  on  t Iir-  taming   of 

namental  Poultry,'  p.  118.     Tame  ducks  ducks  on  the  Mississippi.     For  the  same 

were  not  known  in  Aristotle's  time,  as  re-  fact  in  England,  see  Mr.  Waterton,  In 


336  DOMESTIC    DUCKS.  Chap.  VIII. 

to  be  the  case,  though  the  fact  is  a  strange  one,  with  the 
young  of  the  common  domestic  duck.     An  accurate  and 
well-known  observer  in  England 9  has  described  in  detail 
his  often  repeated  and  successful  experiments  in  domes- 
ticating the  wild  duck.     Young  birds  arc  easily  reared 
from  eggs  hatched  under  a  bantam ;  but  to  succeed  it  is 
indispen sable  not  to  place. the  eggs  of  both  the  wild  and 
tame  duck  under  the  same  hen,  for  in  this  case  "the 
young  wild  ducks  die  off,  leaving  their  more  hardy  breth- 
ren  in  undisturbed    possession  of  their  foster-mother's 
care.     The  difference  of  habit  at  the  onset  in  the  newly- 
hatched  ducklings  almost  entails  such  a  result  to  a  cer- 
tainty."     The  wild  ducklings  were  from  the  first  quite 
tame  towards  those  who  took  care   of  them  as  long  as 
they  wore  the  same  clothes,  and  likewise  to  the  dogs  and 
cats  of  the  house.     They  would  even  snap  with  their 
beaks  at  the  dogs,  and  drive  them  away  from  any  spot 
which  they  coveted.     But  they  were  much  alarmed  at 
strange  men  and  dogs.     Differently  from  what  occurred 
in  Sweden,  Mr.  Hewitt  found  that  his  young  birds  al- 
ways changed  and  deteriorated  in  character  in  the  course 
of  two  or  three  generations  ;  notwithstanding  that  great 
care  was  taken  to  prevent  any  crossing  with  tame  ducks. 
After  the  third  generation  his  birds  lost  the  elegant  car- 
riage of  the  wild  species,  and  began  to  acquire  the  gait 
of  the  common  duck.     They  increased  in  size  in  each 
generation,  and  their  legs  became  less  fine.      The  white 
collar  round  the  neck  of  the  mallard  became  broader  and 
less  regular,  and  some  of  the  longer  primary  wing- feathers 
became  more  or  less  white.    When  this  occurred,  Mr. 
Hewitt  always  destroyed  his  old  stock  and  procured 
fresh  eggs  from  wild  nests ;  so  that  he  never  bred  the 
same  family  for  more  than  five  or  six  generations.      His 


Loudon's  '  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,'  vol.  viii.        1846,  p.  129. 

1835,  p.  542;  and  Mr.   St.  John,  '  Wild  9  Mr.  E.  Hewitt,  in  '  Journal  of  Hortl- 

Sports  and  Nat.  Hist,  of  the  Highlands,'       culture,'  1862,  p.  7T3  ;  and  1863,  p.  39, 


Chap.  vm.  EXTERNAL    DIFFERENCES.  337 

birds  continued  to  pair  together,  and  never  became  poly- 
gamous like  the  common  domestic  duck.  I  have  given 
these  details,  because  no  other  case,  as  far  as  I  know,  has 
been  so  carefully  recorded  by  a  competent  observer  of 
the  progress  of  change  in  wild  birds  reared  for  several 
generations  in  a  domestic  condition. 

From  these  considerations  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt 
that  the  wild  duck  is  the  parent  of  the  common  domestic 
kind ;  nor  need  we  look  to  distinct  species  for  the  parent- 
age of  the  more  distinct  breeds,  namely,  Penguin,  Call, 
Hook-billed,  Tufted,  and  Labrador  ducks.  I  will  not  re- 
peat the  arguments  used  in  the  previous  chapters  on  the 
improbability  of  man  having  in  ancient  times  domesti- 
cated several  species  since  become  unknown  or  extinct, 
though  ducks  ai*e  not  readily  exterminated  in  the  wild 
state  ; — on  some  of  the  supposed  parent-species  having 
had  abnormal  characters  in  comparison  with  all  the  other 
species  of  the  genus,  as  with  hook-billed  and  penguin 
ducks ; — on  all  the  breeds,  as  far  as  is  known,  being  fer- 
tile together;10 — on  all  the  breeds  having  the  same  gene- 
ral disposition,  instinct,  &c.  But  one  fact  bearing  on  this 
question  may  be  noticed :  in  the  great  duck  family,  one 
species  alone,  namely,  the  male  of  A.  boschas,  has  its 
four  middle  tail  feathers  curled  upwardly  ;  now  in  every 
one  of  the  above-named  domestic  breeds  these  curled 
feathers  exist,  and  on  the  supposition  that  they  are  de- 
scended from  distinct  species,  we  must  assume  that  man 
formerly  hit  upon  species  all  of  which  had  this  now  uni- 
que character.  Moreover,  sub-varieties  of  each  breed  are 
coloured  almost  exactly  like  the  wild  duck,  as  I  have 


10  I  have  met  with  several  statements  were  quite  fertile,  though  they  were  not 
on  the  fertility  of  the  several  breeds  bred  inter  se,  so  that  the  experiment 
when  crossed.  Mr.  Yarrell  assured  me  was  not  fully  tried.  Some  half-bred  Pen- 
that  Call  and  common  ducks  are  per-  guins  and  Labradors  were  again  crossed 
fectly  fertile  together.  I  crossed  Hook-  with  Penguins,  and  subsequently  bred 
billed  and  common  ducks,  and  a  Penguin  by  me  vivter  se,  and  they  were  extremely 
and  Labrador,  and  the  crossed  ducks  fertile. 
15 


338  DOMESTIC    DUCKS.  Chap.  VIII. 

seen  with  the  largest  and  smallest  breeds,  namely  Rouens 
and  Call-ducks,  and,  as  Mr.  Brent  states,11  is  the  case 
with  Hook-billed  ducks.  This  gentleman,  as  he  informs 
me,  crossed  a  white  Aylesbury  drake  and  a  black  Labra- 
dor duck,  and  some  of  the  ducklings  as  they  grew  up 
assumed  the  plumage  of  the  wild  duck. 

With  respect  to  Penguins,  I  have  not  seen  many  speci- 
mens, and  none  were  coloured  precisely  like  the  wild 
duck  ;  but  Sir  James  Brooke  sent  me  three  skins  from 
Lombok  and  Bali,  in  the  Malayan  archipelago  ;  the  two 
females  were  paler  and  more  rufous  than  the  wild  duck, 
and  the  drake  differed  in  having  the  whole  under  and 
upper  surface  (excepting  the  neck,  tail-coverts,  tail,  and 
wings)  silver-grey,  finely  pencilled  with  dark  lines,  closely 
like  certain  parts  of  the  plumage  of  the  wild  mallard. 
But  I  found  this  drake  to  be  identical  in  every  feather 
with  a  variety  of  the  common  breed  procured  from  a 
farm-yard  in  Kent,  and  I  have  occasionally  elsewhere 
seen  similar  specimens.  The  occurrence  of  a  duck  bred 
under  so  peculiar  a  climate  as  that  of  the  Malayan  archi- 
pelago, where  the  wild  species  does  not  exist,  with  ex- 
actly the  same  plumage  as  may  occasionally  be  seen  in 
our  farm-yards,  is  a  fact  worth  notice.  Nevertheless  the 
climate  of  the  Malayan  archipelago  apparently  does  tend 
to  cause  the  duck  to  vary  much,  for  Zollinger,12  speaking 
of  the  Penguin  breed,  says  that  in  Lombok  "  there  is  an 
unusual  and  very  wonderful  variety  of  ducks."  One  Pen- 
guin drake  which  I  kept  alive  differed  from  those  of 
which  the  skins  were  sent  me  from  Lombok,  in  having 
its  breast  and  back  partially  coloured  with  chesnut- 
brown,  thus  more  closely  resembling  the  Mallard. 

For  these  several  facts,  more  especially  from  the  drakes 
of  all  the  breeds  having  curled  tail-feathers,  and  from 
certain  sub-varieties  in  each  breed  occasionally  resem- 


n  '  Poultry  Ciu-onicle,'  1S35(  vol.  iii.  12  'Journal  of  the  Indian  Arctipela- 

p.  512.  go,'  vol.  v.  p.  334. 


Chap.  VIII.  EXTERNAL    DIFFERENCES.  339 

bling  in  general  plumage  the  wild  cluck,  we  may  conclude 
with  confidence  that  all  the  breeds  are  descended  from 
A.  boschciB. 

I  will  now  notice  some  of  the  peculiarities  characteristic  of  the 
several  breeds.  The  eggs  vary  in  colour;  some  common  ducks 
laying  pale-greenish  and  others  quite  white  eggs.  The  eggs  which 
are  first  laid  during  each  season  by  the  black  Labrador  duck,  are 
tinted  black,  as  if  rubbed  with  ink.  So  that  with  ducks,  as  with 
poultry,  some  degree  of  correlation  exists  between  the  colour  of  the 
plumage  and  the  egg-shell.  A  good  observer  assured  me  that  one 
year  his  Labrador  ducks  laid  almost  perfectly  white  eggs,  but  that 
the  yolks  were  this  same  season  dirty  olive-green,  instead  of  as 
usual  of  a  golden  yellow,  so  that  the  black  tint  appeared  to  have 
passed  inwards.  Another  curious  case  shows  what  singular  varia- 
tions sometimes  occur  and  are  inherited  ;  Mr.  Hansell 13  relates  that 
he  had  a  common  duck  which  always  laid  eggs  with  the  yolk  of  a 
dark -brown  colour  like  melted  glue  ;  and  the  young  ducks,  hatched 
from  these  eggs,  laid  the  same  kind  of  eggs,  so  that  the  breed  had 
to  be  destroyed. 

The  hooked-billed  duck  has  a  most  remarkable  appearance  (see 
fig.  of  skull,  woodcut  No.  39) ;  and  its  peculiar  beak  has  been  in- 
herited at  least  since  the  year  1676.  This  structure  is  evidently 
analogous  with  that  described  in  the  Bagadotten  carrier  pigeon. 
Mr.  Brent  M  says  that,  when  hook-billed  ducks  are  crossed  with  com- 
mon ducks,  "  many  young  ones  are  produced  with  the  upper  man- 
dible shorter  than  the  lower,  which  not  unfrequently  causes  the 
death  of  the  bird."  A  tuft  of  feathers  on  the  head  is  by  no  means 
a  rare  occurrence ;  namely,  in  the  true  tufted  breed,  the  hook-billed, 
the  common  farmyard  duck,  and  in  a  duck  having  no  other  pecu- 
liarity which  was  sent  to  me  from  the  Malayan  archipelago.  The 
tuft  is  only  so  far  interesting  as  it  affects  the  skull,  which  is  thus 
rendered  slightly  more  globular,  and  is  perforated  by  numerous 
apertures.  Call-ducks  are  remarkable  from  their  extraordinary 
loquacity  ;  the  drake  only  hisses  like  common  drakes  ;  nevertheless, 
when  paired  with  the  common  duck,  he  transmits  to  his  female 
offspring  a  strong  quacking  tendency.  This  loquacity  seems  at  first 
a  surprising  character  to  have  been  acquired  under  domestication. 


>3  'The    Zoologist,'    vols,    vii.,    viii.  14  'Poultry  Chronicle,'  1855,  vol.  111. 

(1849-1850),  p.  2858.  p.  512. 


340 


DOMESTIC    DUCKS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


But  the  voice  varies  in  the  different  breeds ;  Mr.  Brent 15  says  that 
hook-billed  ducks  are  very  loquacious,  and  that  Rouens  utter  a 
"  dull,  loud,  and  monotonous  cry,  easily  distinguishable  by  an  ex- 
perienced ear."  As  the  loquacity  of  the  Call-duck  is  highly  ser- 
viceable, these  birds  being  used  in  decoys,  this  quality  may  have 
been  increased  by  selection.  For  instance,  Colonel  Hawker  says,  if 
young  wild-ducks  cannot  be  got  for  a  decoy,  "  by  way  of  make-shift, 
select  tame  birds  which  are  the  most  clamorous,  even  if  their  colour 
should  not  be  like  that  of  wild  ones.16  It  has  been  falsely  asserted 
that  Call-ducks  hatch  their  esrgs  in  less  time  than  common  ducks." 


Fig.  39. — Skulls,  viewed  laterally,  reduced  to  two-thirds  of  the  natural  size. 
A.  Wild  Duck.     13.  Hook-billed  Duck. 


The  Penguin  duck  is  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  breeds  ;  the 
thin  neck  and  body  are  carried  erect ;  the  wings  are  small ;  the  tail 
is  upturned,  and  the  thigh  bones  and  metatarsi  are  considerably 
lengthened  in  proportion  with  the  same  bones  in  the  wild  duck.  In 
five  specimens  examined  by  me  there  were  only  eighteen  tail-feathers 
instead  of  twenty  as  in  the  wild  duck  ;  but  I  have  also  found  only 
eighteen  and  nineteen  tail-feathers  in  two  Labrador  ducks.    On  the 


15  '  Poultry  Chronicle,'  vol.  iii.,  1855, 
p.  312.  With  respect  to  Rouens,  see 
ditto,  vol.  i.,  1854,  p.  167. 

16  Col.     Hawker's     '  Instructions    to 


young  Sportsmen,'  quoted  by  Mr.  Dixon 
in  his  '  Ornamental  Poultry,'  p.  125. 

17  '  Cottage     Gardener,'    April    9th, 
1861. 


Chap.  VIII.        DIFFERENCES  IN  THEIR  SKELETONS.      341 

middle  toe,  in  three  specimens,  there  were  twenty-seven  or  twenty- 
eight  BCUteUse,  whereas  in  two  wild  ducks  there  were  thirty-one 
and  thirty-two.  The  Penguin  when  crossed  transmits  with  much 
power  its  peculiar  form  of  body  and  gait  to  its  offspring  ;  this  was 
manifest  with  some  hybrids  raised  in  the  Zoological  Gardens,  be- 
tween one  of  these  birds  and  the  Egyptian  goose  I8  {Tadorna  JEgyp- 
tiaca),  and  likewise  with  some  mongrels  which  I  raised  between 
the  Penguin  and  Labrador  duck.  I  am  not  much  surprised  that 
some  writers  have  maintained  that  this  breed  must  be  descended 
from  an  unknown  and  distinct  species ;  but  from  the  reasons  already 
assigned,  it  seems  to  me  far  more  probable  that  it  is  the  descend- 
ant, much  modified  by  domestication  under  an  unnatural  chimate, 
of  Anas  boschas. 

Osteological  Characters. — The  skulls  of  the  several  different  breeds 
differ  from  each  other  and  from  the  skull  of  the  wild  duck  in  very  lit- 
tle except  in  the  proportional  length  and  curvature  of  the  premaxil- 
laries.  These  latter  bones  in  the  Call-duck  are  short,  and  a  line 
drawrn  from  their  extremities  to  the  summit  of  the  skull  is  nearly 
straight,  instead  of  being  concave  as  in  the  common  duck ;  so  that  the 
skull  resembles  that  of  a  small  goose.  In  the  hook-billed  duck  (fig.  39) 
these  same  bones  as  well  as  the  lower  jaw  curve  downwards  in  a 
most  remarkable  manner,  as  represented.  In  the  Labrador  duck 
the  premaxillaries  are  rather  broader  than  in  the  wild  duck  ;  and 
in  two  skulls  of  this  breed  the  vertical  ridges  on  each  side  of  the 
supra-occipital  bone  are  very  prominent.  In  the  Penguin  the  pre- 
maxillaries are  relatively  shorter  than  in  the  wild  duck  ;  and  the  in- 
ferior points  of  the  paramastoids  more  prominent.  In  a  Dutch  tufted 
duck,  the  skull  under  the  enormous  tuft  was  slightly  more  globular 
and  was  perforated  by  two  large  apertures  ;  in  this  skull  the  lachry- 
mal bones  were  produced  much  further  backwards,  so  as  to  have  a 
different  shape  and  to  nearly  touch  the  post.  lat.  processes  of  the 
frontal  bones,  thus  almost  completing  the  bony  orbit  of  the  eye. 
As  the  quadrate  and  pterygoid  bones  are  of  such  complex  shape 
and  stand  in  relation  with  so  many  other  bones,  I  carefully  com- 
pared them  in  all  the  principal  breeds ;  but  excepting  in  size  they 
presented  no  difference. 

Vertebral  and  Bibs. — In  one  skeleton  of  the  Labrador  duck  there 
were  the  usual  fifteen  cervical  vertebrae  and  the  usual  nine  dorsal 
vertebra?  bearing  ribs ;  in  the  other  skeleton  there  were  fifteen  cervical 
and  ten  dorsal  vertebra?  with  ribs ;  nor,  as  far  as  could  be  judged,  was 


18  These  hybrids  have  been  described        letins  (torn.  xii.  No.  10)  Acad.  Roy.  de 
by  M.  Selys-Longchamps   in  the  '  Bui-        Bruxelles.' 


342 


DOMESTIC   DUCKS. 


Chap.  VIII.. 


this  owing  merely  to  a  rib  having 
been  developed  on  the  first  lumbar 
vertebra ;  for  in  both  skeletons  the 
lumbar  vertebrae  agreed  perfectly 
in  number,  shape,  and  size  with 
those  of  the  wild  duck.  In  two 
skeletons  of  the  Call-duck  there 
were  fifteen  cervical  and  nine  dor- 
sal vertebra ;  in  a  third  skeleton 
small  ribs  were  attached  to  the  so- 
called  fifteenth  cervical  vertebra, 
making  ten  pairs  of  ribs ;  but  these 
ten  ribs  do  not  correspond,  or  arise 
from  the  same  vertebrae,  with  the 
ten  in  the  above-mentioned  Labra- 
dor duck.  In  the  Call-duck,  which 
had  small  ribs  attached  to  the  fif- 
teenth cervical  vertebra,  the  hae- 
mal spines  of  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  (cervical)  and  of  the 
seventeenth  (dorsal)  vertebrae  cor- 
responded with  the  spines  on  the 
fourteenth,  fifteenth,  and  eigh- 
teenth vertebrae  of  the  wild  duck  :  so  that  each  of  these  vertebrae  had 
acquired  a  structure  proper  to  one  posterior  to  it  in  position.  In  the 
twelfth  cervical  vertebra  of  this  same  Call-duck  (fig.  40,  B),  the  two 
branches  of  the  haemal  spine  stand  much  closer  together  than  in  the 
wild  duck  (A),  and  the  descending  haemal  processes  are  much  short- 
ened. In  the  Penguin  duck  the  neck  from  its  thinness  and  erect- 
ness  falsely  appears  (as  ascertained  by  measurement)  to  be  much 
elongated,  but  the  cervical  and  dorsal  vertebrae  present  no  differ- 
ence ;  the  posterior  dorsal  vertebrae,  however,  are  more  completely 
anehylosed  to  the  pelvis  than  in  the  wild  duck.  The  Aylesbury  duck 
has  fifteen  cervical  and  ten  dorsal  vertebrae  furnished  with  ribs,  but 
the  same  number  of  lumbar,  sacral,  and  caudal  vertebrae,  as  far  as 
could  be  traced,  as  in  the  wild  duck.  The  cervical  vertebrae  in  this 
same  duck  (fig.  40,  D)  were  much  broader  and  thicker  relatively  to 
their  length  than  in  the  wild  (C) ;  so  much  so,  that  I  have  thought 
it  worth  while  to  give  a  sketch  of  the  eighth  cervical  vertebra  in 
these  two  birds.  From  the  foregoing  statements  we  see  that  the  fif- 
teenth cervical  vertebra  occasionally  becomes  modified  into  a  dorsal 
vertebra,  and  when  this  occurs  all  the  adjoining  vertebrae  are  modi- 
fied.   We  also  see  that  an  additional  dorsal  vertebra  bearing  a  rib  is 


Fig.  40. — Cervical  Vertebrae,  of  natural 
size.  A.  Eighth  cervical  vertebra  of 
Wild  Duck,  viewed  on  haemal  sur- 
face. B.  Eighth  cervical  vertebra  of 
Call  Duck,  viewed  as  above.  C. 
Twelfth  cervical  vertebra  of  Wild 
Duck,  viewed  laterally.  D.  Twelfth 
cervical  vertebra  of  Aylesbury  Duck, 
viewed  laterally. 


Chap.  viii.       EFFECTS    OF    USE    AND    DISUSE. 


343 


occasionally  developed,  the  number  of  the  cervical  and  lumbar  verte- 
bra- apparently  remaining  the  same  as  usual. 

I  examined  the  bony  enlargement  of  the  trachea  in  the  males  of 
the  Penguin,  Call,  Hook-billed,  Labrador,  and  Aylesbury  breeds  ;  and 
in  all  it  was  identical  in  shape. 

The  Pelvis  is  remarkably  uniform ;  but  in  the  skeleton  of  the 
Hook -billed  duck  the  anterior  part  is  much  bowed  inwards ;  in  the 
Aylesbury  and  some  other  breeds  the  ischiadic  foramen  is  less  elon- 
gated. In  the  sternum,  furcula,  coracoids,  and  scapula,  the  differ- 
ences arc  so  slight  and  so  variable  as  not  to  be  worth  notice,  except 
that  in  two  skeletons  of  the  Penguin  duck  the  terminal  portion  of 
the  scapula  was  much  attenuated. 

In  the  bones  of  the  leg  and  wing  no  modification  in  shape  coidd 
be  observed.  But  in  Peguin  and  Hook-billed  ducks,  the  terminal 
phalanges  of  the  wing  are  a  little  shortened.  In  the  former,  the 
femur  and  metatarsus  (but  not  the  tibia)  are  considerably  lengthened, 
relatively  to  the  same  bones  in  the  wild  duck,  and  to  the  wing-bones 
in  both  birds.  This  elongation  of  the  leg-bones  could  be  seen  whilst 
the  bird  was  alive,  and  is  no  doubt  connected  with  its  peculiar  up- 
right manner  of  walking.  In  a  large  Aylesbury  duck,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  tibia  was  the  only  bone  of  the  leg  which  relatively  to  the 
other  bones  was  slightly  lengthened. 

On  the  effects  of  the  increased  and  decreased  Use  of  the  Limbs. — 
In  all  the  breeds  the  bones  of  the  wing  (measured  separately  after 
having  been  cleaned)  relatively  to  those  of  the  leg  have  become 
slightly  shortened,  in  comparison  with  the  same  bones  in  the  wild 
duck,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  following  table : — 


Name  of  Breed. 

Length  of  Femur, 
Tiliia.  and  Meta- 
tarsus together. 

Length  of  Humerus', 

Radius,  and  Meta- 
carpus together. 

Or  as 

Wild  mallard        . . 
Tufted  (Dutch)     . . 
Call     

Inches. 

7-14 
864 
825 
7-12 
620 

Inches. 

9-28 

10-43 

9-83 

878 

7-77 

100  :  129 
100  •  120 
100  :  119 
100  :  123i 
100  :  123 

Wild   duck   (another ) 

specimen)    . .     . .      S 

Common  domestic  duck 

Length  of  same 
Bones. 

Length  of  all  the 
Bones  of  Wing. 

100  :  147 
100  :  138 

Inches. 

685 
815 

Inches. 

1007 
11-26 

344 


DOMESTIC    DUCKS. 


Chap.  VIIZ 


In  the  foregoing  table  we  see  that,  in  comparison  with  the  wild 
duck,  the  reduction  in  the  length  of  the  bones  of  the  wing,  rela- 
tively to  those  of  the  legs,  though  slight,  is  universal.  The  reduc- 
tion is  least  in  the  Call-duck,  which  has  the  power  and  the  habit  of 
frequently  flying. 

In  weight  there  is  a  greater  relative  difference  between  the  bones 
of  the  leg  and  wing,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  following  table  • — 


Name  of  Breed. 

Weight  of  Femur, 
Tibia,  and 
Metatarsus. 

Weight  of 
Humerus,  Radius, 
and  Metacarpus. 

Or  as 

Wild  mallard        . . 

Aylesbury       

Hooked-bill     

Tufted  (Dutch)      . . 

Call     , 

Grains. 

54 
164 
107 
111 

75 
141 

57 

Grains. 

97 
204 
160 
148 

905 
165 

93 

100  :  179 
100  :  124 
100  :  149 
100  :  133 
100  :  120 
100  :  117 
100  :  163 

Wild  (another  speci-  ) 
Common  domestic  duck 

Weight  of  all  the 
Bones  of  the 
Leg  and  Foot. 

Weight  of  all  the 

Bones  of  the 

Wing. 

100  :  173 
100  :  124 

Grains, 

66 
127 

Grains. 

115 

158 

In  these  domesticated  birds,  the  considerably  lessened  weight  of 
the  bones  of  the  wing  (i.  e.  on  an  average,  twenty -five  per  cent,  of 
their  proper  proportional  weight),  as  well  as  their  slightly  lessened 
length,  relatively  to  the  leg-bones,  might  follow,  not  from  any  ac- 
tual decrease  in  the  wing-bones,  but  from  the  increased  weight  and 
length  of  the  bones  of  the  legs.  The  first  of  the  two  tables  on  the 
next  page  shows  that  the  leg-bones  relatively  to  the  weight  of  the 
entire  skeleton  have  really  increased  in  weight ;  but  the  second 
table  shows  that  according  to  the  same  standard  the  wing-bones 
have  also  really  decreased  in  weight ;  so  that  the  relative  dispro- 
portion shown  in  the  foregoing  tables  between  the  wing  and  leg- 
bones,  in  comparison  with  those  of  the  wild  duck,  is  partly  due  to 
the  increase  in  weight  and  length  of  the  leg-bones,  and  partly  to 
the  decrease  in  weight  and  length  of  the  wing-bones. 

With  respect  to  the  two  following  tables  I  may  first  state  that  I 
tested  them  by  taking  another  skeleton  of  a  wild  duck  and  of  a 


Chap,  VIII.        EFFECTS    OF    USE    AND    DISUSE. 


345 


common  domestic  duck,  and  by  comparing  the  weight  of  all  the 
bones  of  the  leg  with  till  those  of  the  wings,  and  the  result  was  the 
same.  In  the  first  of  these  tables  we  see  that  the  leg-bones  in  each 
case  have  increased  in  actual  weight.  It  might  have  been  expected 
that,  with  the  increased  or  decreased  weight  of  the  entire  skeleton, 
the  leg-bones  would  have  become  proportionally  heavier  or  lighter  ; 
but  their  greater  weight  in  all  the  breeds  relatively  to  the  other 
bones  can  be  accounted  for  only  by  these  domestic  birds  having 
used  their  legs  in  walking  and  standing  much  more  than  the  wild, 
for  they  never  fly,  and  the  more  artificial  breeds  rarely  swim.     In 


Name  of  Breed. 

Weislit  of  entire 

Skeleton. 
(N.  B.  One  Meta- 
tarsus and  Foot 
was  removed 
from  each  skele- 
ton, as  it  had 
been  acciden- 
tally lost  in  two 
cases.) 

Weight  of 

Femur,  Tibia, 

and  Metatarsus. 

Or  as 

Wild  mallard        . . 
Tufted  (Dutch)     . . 
Call  (from  Mr.  Fox)    .. 

Grains. 

839 

1925 

1404 

871 

717 

Grains. 

54 

164 

111 

75 

57 

1000  :  64 
1000  :  85 
1000  :  79 
1000  :  86 
1000  :  79 

Wild  mallard       . . 

Tufted  (Dutch)      . . 

Call  (from  Mr.  Baker) 
Call  (from  Mr.  Fox)    . . 

Weight  of  Skele- 
ton as  above. 

Weight  of 
Humerus,  Ra- 
dius and  Ulna, 
aud  Metacarpus. 

1000  :  115 
1000  :  105 
1000  :  105 
1000  :  103 
1000  :  109 
1000  :  129 

Grains. 

839 
1925 
1404 
871 
914 
717 

Grains. 

97 
204 
148 

90 
100 

92 

the  second  table  we  see,  with  the  exception  of  one  case,  a  plain  re- 
duction in  the  weight  of  the  bones  of  the  wing,  and  this  no  doubt 
has  resulted  from  their  lessened  use.  The  one  exceptional  case, 
namely,  in  one  of  the  Call-ducks,  is  in  truth  no  exception,  for  this 
bird  was  constantly  in  the  habit  of  flying  about ;  and  I  have  seen 
it  clay  after  day  rise  from  my  grounds,  and  fly  for  a  long  time  in 
circles  of  more  than  a  mile  in  diameter.  In  this  Call-duck  there  is 
not  only  no  decrease,  but  an  actual  increase  in  the  weight  of  the 
wing-bones  relatively  to  those  of  the  wild  duck  ;  and  this  probably 
15* 


346  DOMESTIC    DUCKS.  Chap.  Vin. 

is  consequent  on  the  remarkable  lightness  and  thinness  of  all  the 
bones  of  the  skeleton. 

Lastly,  I  weighed  the  furcula,  coracoids,  and  scapula  of  a  wild 
duck  and  of  a  common  domestic  duck,  and  I  found  that  their 
weight,  relatively  to  that  of  the  whole  skeleton,  was  as  one  hun- 
dred in  the  former  to  eighty-nine  in  the  latter;  this  shows  that 
these  bones  in  the  domestic  duck  have  been  reduced  eleven  per 
cent,  of  their  due  proportional  weight.  The  prominence  of  the 
crest  of  the  sternum,  relatively  to  its  length,  is  also  much  reduced 
in  all  the  domestic  breeds.  These  changes  have  evidently  been 
caused  by  the  lessened  use  of  the  wings. 

It  is  well  known  that  several  birds,  belonging  to  dif- 
ferent Orders,  and  inhabiting  oceanic  islands,  have  their 
wings  greatly  reduced  in  size  and  are  incapable  of  flight. 
I  suggested  in  my  '  Origin  of  Species '  that,  as  these 
birds  are  not  persecuted  by  any  enemies,  the  reduction 
of  their  wings  has  probably  been  caused  by  gradual  dis- 
use. Hence,  during  the  earlier  stages  of  the  process  of 
reduction,  such  birds  might  be  expected  to  resemble  in 
the  state  of  their  organs  of  flight  our  domesticated  ducks. 
This  is  the  case  with  the  water-hen  (Gallinula  nesiotis) 
of  Tristan  d'Acunha,  which  "  can  flutter  a  little,  but  ob- 
viously uses  its  legs,  and  not  its  wings,*  as  a  mode  of 
escape."  Now  Mr.  Sclater  19  finds  in  this  bird  that  the 
wings,  sternum,  and  coracoids,  are  all  reduced  in  length, 
and  the  crest  of  the  sternum  in  depth,  in  comparison  with 
the  same  bones  in  the  Euroj)ean  water-hen  (G.  cJtloro- 
pus).  On  the  other  hand,  the  thigh-bones  and  pelvis 
are  increased  in  length,  the  former  by  four  lines,  rela- 
tively to  the  same  bones  in  the  common  water-hen. 
Hence  in  the  skeleton  of  this  natural  species  nearly  the 
same  changes  have  occurred,  only  carried  a  little  further, 
as  with  our  domestic  ducks,  and  in  this  latter  case  I  pre- 
sume no  one  will  dispute  that  they  have  resulted  from 
the  lessened  use  of  the  wings  and  the  increased  use  of 
the  legs. 

19  'Proc  Zoolog.  Soc.,'  1861,  p.  261. 


Chap.  Vlir.  DOMESTIC    GOOSE.  347 

The  Goose. 

This  bird  deserves  some  notice,  as  hardly  any  other  an- 
ciently domesticated  bird  or  quadruped  has  varied  so 
little.  That  geese  were  anciently  domesticated  we  know 
from  certain  verses  in  Homer ;  and  from  these  birds  hav- 
ing been  kept  (388  b.c.)  in  the  Capitol  at  Rome  as  sacred 
to  Juno,  which  sacredness  implies  great  antiquity.20  That 
the  goose  has  varied  in  some  degree,  we  may  infer  from 
naturalists  not  being  unanimous  with  resp>ect  to  its  wild 
parent-form ;  though  the  difficulty  is  chiefly  due  to  the 
existence  of  three  or  four  closely  allied  wild  European 
species.21  A  large  majority  of  capable  judges  are  con- 
vinced that  our  geese  are  descended  from  the  wild  Grey- 
lag goose  (A.  ferus)  ;  the  young  of  which  can  easily  be 
tamed,22  and  are  domesticated  by  the  Laplanders.  This 
species,  when  crossed  with  the  domestic  goose,  produced 
in  the  Zoological  Gardens,  as  I  was  assured  in  1849,  per- 
fectly fertile  offspring.23  Yarrell 24  has  observed  that  the 
lower  part  of  the  trachea  of  the  domestic  goose  is  some- 
times flattened,  and  that  a  ring  of  white  feathers  sometimes 
surrounds  the  base  of  the  beak.  These  characters  seem 
at  first  good  indications  of  a  cross  at  some  former  period 
with  the  white-fronted  goose  {A.  albifroiis)  ;  but  the 
white  ring  is  variable  in  this  latter  species,  and  we  must 
not  overlook  the  law  of  analogous  variation ;  that  is,  of 
one  species  assuming  some  of  the  characters  of  allied 
species. 

As  the  goose  has  proved  so  inflexible  in  its  organization 

20  'Ceylon,'    by  Sir  J.  E.   Tennent,  22   Mr.    A.   Strickland    ('Annals   and 

1859,  vol.  i.  p.  485;  also  J.  Oawfurd  on  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,'  3rd  Series,  vol.  iii. 
the  'Relation  of  Domest.  Animals  to  1S59,  p.  122)  reared  some  young  wild 
Civilisation,'  read    before  Brit.  Assoc,        geese,  and  found  them  in  habits  and  in 

1860.  See  also  '  Ornamental  Poultry,'  all  characters  identical  with  the  domes- 
by  Rev.  E.  S.  Dixon,  1S4S,  p,  132.     The        tic  goose. 

goose  figured  on  the    Egyptian  monu-  23  See  also  Hunter's  '  Essays,'  edited 

ments  seems  to  have  been  the  Red  goose  by  Owen,  vol.  ii.  p.  322. 

of  E;;ypt.  s4  Yarrell's  '  British  Birds,'  vol.  iii.  p. 

21  Macgillivray's  '  British  Birds,'  vol.  142.    He  refers  to  the  Laplanders  domes- 
lv.  p.  593.  ticating  the  goose. 


348  DOMESTIC    GOOSE.  Chap.  VIII. 

under  long-continued  domestication,  the  amount  of  varia- 
tion which  can  be  detected  is  worth  giving.  It  has  in- 
creased in  size  and  in  productiveness ; "  and  varies  from 
white  to  a  dusky  colour.  Several  observers 26  have  stated 
that  the  gander  is  more  frequently  white  than  the  goose, 
and  that  when  old  it  almost  invariably  becomes  white ; 
but  this  is  not  the  case  with  the  parent-form,  the  A.  ferus. 
Here,  again,  the  law  of  analogous  variation  may  have 
come  into  play,  as  the  snow-white  male  of  the  Rock- 
Goose  {Bemicla  antarctica)  standing  on  the  sea-shore  by 
his  dusky  partner  is  a  sight  well  known  to  all  those  who 
have  traversed  the  sounds  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  and  the 
Falkland  Islands.  Some  geese  have  topknots ;  and  the 
skull  beneath,  as  before  stated,  is  perforated.  A  sub- 
breed  has  lately  been  formed  with  the  feathers  reversed 
at  the  back  of  the  head  and  neck."  The  beak  varies  a 
little  in  size,  and  is  of  a  yellower  tint  than  in  the  wild 
species;  but  its  colour  and  that  of  the  legs  are  both 
slightly  variable.28  This  latter  fact  deserves  attention, 
because  the  colour  of  the  legs  and  beak  is  highly  ser- 
viceable in  discriminating  the  several  closely  allied  wild 
forms.29  At  our  Shows  two  breeds  are  exhibited ;  viz. 
the  Embden  and  Toulouse  ;  but  they  differ  in  nothing  ex- 
cept colour.30  Recently  a  smaller  and  singular  variety 
has  been  imported  from  Sebastopol,31  with  the  scapular 
feathers  (as  I  hear  from  Mr.  Tegetmeier,  who  sent  me 
specimens)  greatly  elongated,  curled,  and  even  spirally 


25  L.  Lloyd,    '  Scandinavian  Adven-  Zoological  Soc,  Feb.  1860. 

tures,'  1854,  vol.  ii.  p.   413,  says   that  28  W.  Thompson, '  Natural  Hist,  of  Ire- 

the  wild  goose  lays  from  five  to  eight  land,'  1851,  vol.  ui.ip.31.    The  Rev.  E.  S. 

eggs,  which   is   a  much  fewer  number  Dixon  gave  me  some  information  on  the 

than  that  laid  by  our  domestic  goose.  varying  colour  of  the  beak  and  legs. 

28  The  Rev.  L.  Jenyns  seems  first  to  S9  Mi-.  A.  Strickland,  in  '  Annals  and 

have  made  this  observation  in  his   '  Bri-  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,' 3rd  series,  vol.  Hi., 

tish   Animals.'    See  also    Yarrell,    and  1859,  p.  122. 

Dixon  in  his  'Ornamental  Poultry'  (p.  30  '  Poultry  Chronicle,'  vol.  i.,  1854,  p. 

139),  and  '  Gardener's   Chronicle,'  1S57,  49S ;  vol.  iii.  p.  210. 

p.  45.  si  'The  Cottage  Gardener,'  Sept.  4th, 

27  Mr.  Bartlett  exhibited  the  head  and  1860,  p.  348. 
neck  of  a  bird  thus  characterised  at  the 


Chap.  VIII.  DOMESTIC    GOOSE.  349 

twisted.  The  margins  of  these  feathers  are  rendered 
plumose  by  the  divergence  of  the  barbs  and  barbules,  so 
that  they  resemble  in  some  degree  those  on  the  back  of 
the  black  Australian  swan.  These  feathers  are  likewise 
remarkable  from  the  central  shaft,  which  is  excessively 
thin  and  transparent,  being  split  into  fine  filaments,  which, 
liter  running  for  a  space  free,  sometimes  coalesce  again. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  these  filaments  are  regularly 
clothed  on  each  side  with  fine  down  or  barbules,  precisely 
like  those  on  the  proper  barbs  of  the  feather.  This  struc- 
ture of  the  feathers  is  transmitted  to  half-bred  birds. 
In  Gallus  sonneratii  the  barbs  and  barbules  blend  to- 
gether, and  form  thin  horny  plates  of  the  same  nature  with 
the  shaft :  in  this  variety  of  the  goose,  the  shaft  divides 
into  filaments  which  acquire  barbules,  and  thus  resemble 
true  barbs. 

Although  the  domestic  goose  certainly  differs  some- 
what from  any  known  wild  species,  yet  the  amount  of 
variation  which  it  has  undergone,  as  compared  with  most 
domesticated  animals,  is  singularly  small.  This  fact  can 
be  partially  accounted  for  by  selection  not  having  come 
largely  into  play.  Birds  of  all  kinds  which  present  many 
distinct  races  are  valued  as  pets  or  ornaments ;  no  one 
makes  a  pet  of  the  goose  ;  the  name,  indeed,  in  more  lan- 
guages than  one,  is  a  term  of  reproach.  The  goose  is 
valued  for  its  size  and  flavour,  for  the  whiteness  of  its 
feathers  which  adds  to  their  value,  and  for  its  pi-olificness 
and  tameness.  In  all  these  points  the  goose  differs  from 
the  wild  parent-form ;  and  these  are  the  points  which 
have  been  selected.  Even  in  ancient  times  the  Roman 
gourmands  valued  the  liver  of  the  ichite  goose ;  and 
Pierre  Belon32  in  1555  speaks  of  two  varieties,  one  of 
which  was  larger,  more  fecund,  and  of  a  better  colour 
than  the  other ;  and  he  expressly  states  that  good  mana- 

ss  'L'  Hist,  de  la  Nature  des  Oiseaux,'  red  by  the  Romans,  see  Isid.  Geoffroy 
par  P.  Belon,  1555,  p.  156.  With  respect  St.  Hilaire,  '  Hist.  Nat.  Gen.,'  torn.  iii. 
to  the  livers  of  white  geese  being  prefer-        p.  59. 


350  PEACOCK.  Chap.  VIII. 

gers  attended  to  the  colour  of  their  goslings,  so  that  they 
might  know  which  to  preserve  and  select  for  breeding. 

The  Peacock. 

This  is  another  bird  which  has  hardly  varied  under  do- 
mestication, except  in  sometimes  being  white  or  piebald.* 
Mr.  Waterhouse  carefully  compared,  as  he  informs  me, 
skins  of  the  wild  Indian  and  domestic  bird,  and  they  were 
identical  in  every  respect,  except  that  the  plumage  of  the 
latter  was  perhaps  rather  thicker.  Whether  our  birds  are 
descended  from  those  introduced  into  Europe  in  the  time 
of  Alexander,  or  have  been  subsequently  imported,  is 
doubtful.  They  do  not  breed  very  freely  with  us,  and 
are  seldom  kept  in  large  numbers, — circumstances  which 
would  greatly  interfere  with  the  gradual  selection  and 
formation  of  new  breeds. 

There  is  one  strange  fact  with  respect  to  the  peacock, 
namely,  the  occasional  appearance  in  England  of  the 
"japanned  "  or  "  black-shouldered  "  kind.  This  form  has 
lately  been  named  on  the  high  authority  of  Mr.  Sclater 
as  a  distinct  species,  viz.  Pavo  nigripennis,  which  he  be- 
lieves will  hereafter  be  found  wild  in  some  country,  but 
not  in  India,  where  it  is  certainly  unknown.  These  ja- 
panned birds  differ  conspicuously  from  the  common  pea- 
cock in  the  colour  of  their  secondary  wing-feathers,  sca- 
pulars, wing-coverts,  and  thighs ;  the  females  are  much 
paler,  and  the  young,  as  I  hear  from  Mr.  Bartlett,  like- 
Avise  differ.  They  can  be  propagated  perfectly  true. 
Although  they  do  not  resemble  the  hybrids  which  have 
been  raised  between  P.  cristatus  and  muticus,  neverthe- 
less they  are  in  some  respects  intermediate  in  character, 
between  these  two  species ;  and  this  fact  favours,  as  Mr. 
Sclater  believes,  the  view  that  they  form  a  distinct  and 
natural  species.33 

83  Mr.  Sclater  on  the  black-shouldered  peacock  of  Latham,  '  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,' 
April  24th,  1860. 


Chap.  VIII.  PEACOCK.  351 

On  the  other  hand,  Sir  R.  Heron  states'4  that  this 
breed  suddenly  appeared  within  his  memory  in  Lord 
Brownlow's  large  stock  of  pied,  white,  and  common  pea- 
cocks. The  same  thing  occurred  in  Sir  J.  Trevelyan's 
flock  composed  entirely  of  the  common  kind,  and  in  Mr. 
Thornton's  stock  of  common  and  pied  peacocks.  It  is 
remarkable  that  in  these  two  latter  instances  the  black- 
shouldered  kind  increased,  u  to  the  extinction  of  the  pre- 
viously existing  breed."  I  have  also  received  through 
Mr.  Sclater  a  statement  from  Mr.  Hudson  Gurney  that 
he  reared  many  years  ago  a  pair  of  black-shouldered  pea- 
cocks from  the  common  kind  ;  and  another  ornithologist, 
Prof.  A.  Newton,  states  that,  five  or  six  years  ago,  a 
female  bird,  in  all  respects  similar  to  the  female  of  the 
black-shouldered  kind,  was  produced  from  a  stock  of 
common  peacocks  in  his  possession,  which  during  more 
than  twenty  years  had  not  been  crossed  with  birds  of 
any  other  strain.  Here  we  have  five  distinct  cases  of 
japanned  birds  suddenly  appearing  in  flocks  of  the  com- 
mon kind  kept  in  England.  Better  evidence  of  the  first 
appearance  of  a  new  variety  could  hardly  be  desired.  If 
we  reject  this  evidence,  and  believe  that  the  japan- 
ned peacock  is  a  distinct  species,  we  must  suppose  in  all 
these  cases  that  the  common  breed  had  at  some  former 
period  been  crossed  with  the  supposed  P.  nigripennis, 
but  had  lost  every  trace  of  the  cross,  yet  that  the  birds 
occasionally  produced  offspring  which  suddenly  and  com- 
pletely reacquired  throtigh  reversion  the  characters  of  P. 
nigripennis.  I  have  heard  of  no  other  such  case  in  the 
animal  or  vegetable  kingdom.  To  perceive  the  full  im- 
probability of  such  an  occurrence,  we  may  suppose  that  a 
breed  of  dogs  had  been  crossed  at  some  former  period 
with  a  wolf,  but  had  lost  every  trace  of  the  wolf-like 
character,  yet  that  the  breed  gave  birth  in  five  instances 
in  the  same  country,  within  no  great  length  of  time,  to  a 


34  '  Proc.  Zoolog.  Soc.,'  April  14th,  1S35. 


352  TUEKEY.  Chap.  VIII. 

wolf  perfect  in  every  character ;  and  we  must  further  sup- 
pose that  in  two  of  the  cases  the  newly  produced  wolves 
afterwards  spontaneously  increased  to  such  an  extent  as 
to  lead  to  the  extinction  of  the  parent  breed  of  dogs.  So 
remarkable  a  form  as  the  P.  nigripennis,  when  first  im- 
ported, would  have  realized  a  large  price  ;  it  is  therefore 
improbable  that  it  should  have  been  silently  introduced 
and  its  history  subsequently  lost.  On  the  whole  the  evi- 
dence seems  to  me,  as  it  did  to  Sir  R.  Heron,  to  prepon- 
derate strongly  in  favour  of  the  black-shouldered  breed 
being  a  variation,  induced  either  by  the  climate  of  Eng- 
land, or  by  some  unknown  cause,  such  as  reversion  to  a 
primordial  and  extinct  condition  of  the  species.  On  the 
view  that  the  black-shouldered  peacock  is  a  variety,  the 
case  is  the  most  remarkable  ever  recorded  of  the  abrupt 
appearance  of  a  new  form,  which  so  closely  resembles  a 
true  species  that  it  has  deceived  one  of  the  most  experi- 
enced of  living  ornithologists. 

The  Turkey. 

It  seems  fairly  Avell  established  by  Mr.  Gould,36  that  the 
turkey,  in  accordance  with  the  history  of  its  first  intro- 
duction, is  descended  from  a  wild  Mexican  species  (Jle- 
leagris  Mexicand)  which  had  been  already  domesticated 
by  the  natives  before  the  discovery  of  America,  and 
which  diners  specifically,  as  it  is  generally  thought,  from 
the  common  wild  species  of  the  tTnited  States.  Some 
naturalists,  however,  think  that  these  two  forms  should 
be  ranked  only  as  well-marked  geographical  races.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  the  case  deserves  notice  because  in  the 


35  '  Proc.    Zoolog.    Soc.,'    April    Sth,  in  these  large  and  luxuriant  islands.it 

1S56,  p.   61.    Prof.    Baird  believes  (as  appears  (as  we  shall  presently  see)  that 

quoted  in  Tegetmeier's   '  Poultry  Book,'  the  turkey  degenerates  in  India,  and  this 

1866,  p.  209)  that  our  turkeys  are  de-  fact  indicates  that  it  was  not  aboriginally 

scended  from  a  West  Indian  species  now  an  inhabitant  of    the  lowlands  of   the 

extinct.    But  besides  the  improbability  tropics, 
of  a  bird  having  long  ago  become  extinct 


Chap.  VIII.  TURKEY.  353 

United  States  wild  male  turkeys  sometimes  court  the 
domestic  hens,  which  are  descended  from  the  Mexican 
form,  "  and  are  generally  received  hy  them  with  great 
pleasure.""  Several  accounts  have  likewise  heen  pub- 
lished of  young  birds,  reared  in  the  United  States  from 
the  eggs  of  the  wild  species,  crossing  and  commingling 
with  the  common  breed.  In  England,  also,  this  same 
species  has  been  kept  in  several  parks ;  from  two  of  which 
the  Rev.  W.  D.  Fox  procured  birds,  and  they  crossed 
freely  with  the  common  domestic  kind,  and  during  many 
years  afterwards,  as  he  informs  me,  the  turkeys  in  his 
neighbourhood  clearly  showed  traces  of  their  crossed 
parentage.  We  here  have  an  instance  of  a  domestic  race 
being  modified  by  a  cross  with  a  distinct  species  or  wild 
race.  F.  Michaux37  suspected  in  1802  that  the  common 
domestic  turkey  was  not  descended  from  the  United 
States  species  alone,  but  likewise  from  a  southern  form, 
and  he  went  so  far  as  to  believe  that  English  and  French 
turkeys  differed  from  having  different  proportions  of  the 
blood  of  the  two  parent-forms. 

English  turkeys  are  smaller  than  either  wild  form. 
They  have  not  varied  in  any  great  degree  ;  but  there  are 
some  breeds  which  can  be  distinguished — as  Norfolks, 
Suffblks,  Whites,  and  Copper-coloured  (or  Cambridge), 
all  of  which,  if  precluded  from  crossing  with  other  breeds, 
propagate  their  kind  truly.  Of  these  kinds,  the  most 
distinct  is  the  small,  hardy,  dull-black  Norfolk  turkey,  of 
which  the  chickens  are  black,  with  occasionally  white 
patches  about  the  head.  The  other  breeds  scarcely  differ 
except  in  colour,  and  their  chickens  are  generally  mottled 
all  over  with  brownish-grey.38  The  tuft  of  hair  on  the 
breast,  which  is  proper  to  the  male  alone,  occasionally 
appears  on  the  breast  of  the  domesticated  female.39     The 

38  Audubon's    '  Ornithological     Bio-  rica,'  1S02,  Eng.  translat.,  p.  21T. 

graph.,'   vol.    i.,   1S31,    pp.    4-13;    and  38  '  Ornamental  Poultry,'  by  the  Rev. 

'  Naturalist's   Library,'  vol.  xiv.,  Birds,  E.  S.  Dixon,  1S48,  p.  34. 

p.  13$.  39  Rev.  E.  S.  Dixon,  id.,  p.  35. 

*T  F.  Michaux,  '  Travels  in  N.   Ame- 


354  TUEKEY.  Chap.  vm. 

inferior  tail-coverts  vary  in  number,  and  according  to  a 
German  superstition  the  hen  lays  as  many  eggs  as  the 
cock  has  feathers  of  this  kind.40  In  Holland  there  was 
formerly,  according  to  Temminck,  a  beautiful  buff-yellow 
breed,  furnished  with  an  ample  white  topknot.  Mr. 
Wilmot  has  described41  a  white  turkey-cock  with  a  crest 
formed  of  "  feathers  about  four  inches  long,  with  bare 
quills,  and  a  tuft  of  soft  white  down  growing  at  the 
end."  Many  of  the  young  birds  whilst  young  inherited 
this  kind  of  crest,  but  afterwards  it  either  fell  off  or  was 
pecked  out  by  the  other  birds.  This  is  an  interesting 
case,  as  with  care  a  new  breed  might  probably  have  been 
formed  ;  and  a  topknot  of  this  nature  would  have  been  to 
a  certain  extent  analogous  to  that  borne  by  the  males  in 
several  allied  genera,  such  as  Euplocomus,  Lophophorus, 
and  Pavo. 

"Wild  turkeys,  believed  in  every  instance  to  have  been 
imported  from  the  United  States,  have  been  kept  in  the 
parks  of  Lords  Powis,  Leicester,  Hill,  and  Derby.  The 
Rev.  W.  D.  Fox  procured  birds  from  the  two  first-named 
parks,  and  he  informs  me  that  they  certainly  differed  a 
little  from  each  other  in  the  shape  of  their  bodies  and  in 
the  barred  plumage  on  their  wings.  These  birds  likewise 
differed  from  Lord  Hill's  stock.  Some  of  the  latter  kept 
at  Oulton  by.  Sir  P.  Egerton,  though  precluded  from 
crossing  with  common  turkeys,  occasionally  produced 
much  paler-coloured  birds,  and  one  that  was  almost 
white,  but  not  an  albino.  These  half- wild  turkeys  in  thus 
slightly  differing  from  each  other  present  an  analogous 
case  with  the  wild  cattle  kept  in  the  several  British 
parks.  We  must  suppose  that  the  differences  have  re- 
sulted from  the  prevention  of  free  intercrossing  between 
birds  ranging  over  a  wide  area,  and  from  the  changed 
conditions  to  which  they  have  been  exposed  in  England. 


*°  Bechstein,  '  Naturgesch.  Deutschlands,'  B.  iii.,  1793,  s.  809. 
«  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1S52,  p.  699. 


Chap.  VIII.        GUINEA    FOWL CANARY    BIRD.  355 

In  India  the  climate  lias  apparently  wrought  a  still  greater 
change  in  the  turkey,  for  it  is  described  by  Mr.  Blyth 42 
as  being  much  degenerated  in  size,  "  utterly  incapable  of 
rising  on  the  wing,"  of  a  black  colour,  and  "  with  the 
long  pendulous  appendages  over  the  beak  enormously 
developed." 

The  Guinea  Fowl. 

Tiie  domesticated  guinea-fowl  is  now  believed  by  natural- 
ists to  be  descended  from  the  Nitmicla  ptilorhynca,  which 
inhabits  very  hot,  and,  in  parts,  extremely  arid  districts 
in  Eastern  Africa;  consequently  it  has  been  exposed  in 
this  country  to  extremely  different  conditions  of  life. 
Nevertheless  it  has  hardly  varied  at  all,  except  in  the 
plumage  being  either  paler  or  darker-coloured.  It  is  a 
singular  fact  that  this  bird  varies  more  in  colour  in  the 
West  Indies  and  on  the  Spanish  Main,  under  a  hot  though 
humid  climate,  than  in  Europe.43  The  guinea-fowl  has 
become  thoroughly  feral  in  Jamaica  and  in  St.  Domingo,44 
and  has  diminished  in  size  ;  the  legs  are  black,  whereas 
the  legs  of  the  aboriginal  African  bird  are  said  to  be  grey. 
This  small  change  is  worth  notice  on  account  of  the  often- 
repeated  statement  that  all  feral  animals  invariably  revert 
in  every  character  to  their  original  type. 

The  Canary  Bird. 

As  this  bird  has  been  recently  domesticated,  namely, 
within  the  last  350  years,  its  variability  deserves  no- 
tice. It  has  been  crossed  with  nine  or  ten  other  species 
of  Fringillidae,  and  some  of  the  hybrids  are  almost  com- 


42  E.  Blyth,  in  '  Annals  and  Mag.  of  ed  varieties  imported  from  Barbadoes 
Nat.  Hist.,'  15-47,  vol.  xx.  p.  391.  and  Demerara. 

43  Roulin  makes  this  remark  in  '  Mem.  44  For  St.  Domingo,  nee  M.  A.  Salle,  in 
de  divers  Savans,  l'Acad.  des  Sciences,'  'Proc.  Soc.  Zoolog.,'  1S57,  p.  206.  Mr. 
torn,  vi.,  1S35,  p.  349.  Mr.  Hill,  of  Hill  remarks  to  me,  in  his  letter,  on  the 
Spanish  Town,  in  a  letter  tome,  describes  colour  of  the  legs  of  the  feral  birds  in 
five  varieties  of  the  guinea-fowl  in  Ja-  Jamaica. 

ruaica.    I  have  seen  singular  pale-colour-  * 


356  CANARY    BIRD.  C^r.  vitt 

pletely  fertile ;  but  we  have  no  evidence  that  any  distinct 
breed  has  originated  from  such  crosses.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  modern  domestication  of  the  canary,  many  varie- 
ties have  been  produced;  even  before  the  year  1718  a  list 
of  twenty-seven  varieties  was  published  in  France,45  and 
in  1779  a  long  schedule  of  the  desired  qualities  was 
printed  by  the  London  Canary  Society,  so  that  me- 
thodical selection  has  been  practised  during  a  consi- 
derable period.  The  greater  number  of  the  varieties 
differ  only  in  colour  and  in  the  markings  of  their  plu- 
mage. Some  breeds,  however,  differ  in  shape,  such  as 
the  hooped  or  bowed  canaries,  and  the  Belgian  canaries 
with  their  much  elongated  bodies.  Mr.  Brent46  measured 
one  of  the  latter  and  found  it  eight  inches  in  length, 
whilst  the  wild  canary  is  only  five  and  a  quarter  inches 
long.  There  are  topknotted  canaries,  and  it  is  a  singular 
fact,  that,  if  two  topknotted  birds  are  matched,  the  young, 
instead  of  having  very  fine  topknots,  are  generally  bald, 
or  even  have  a  wound  on  their  heads.47  It  would  ap- 
pear as  if  the  topknot  were  due  to  some  morbid  con- 
dition which  is  increased  to  an  injurious  degree  when 
two  birds  in  this  state  are  paired.  There  is  a  feather- 
footed  breed,  and  another  with  a  kind  of  frill  running 
down  the  breast.  One  other  character  deserves  notice 
from  being  confined  to  one  period  of  life  and  from  being 
strictly  inherited  at  the  same  period :  namely,  the  wing 
and  tail  feathers  in  prize  canaries  being  black,  "  but  this 
colour  is  retained  only  until  the  first  moult ;  once  moult- 
ed, the  peculiarity  ceases."48  Canaries  differ  much  in  dis- 
position and  character,  and  in  some  small  degree  in  song. 
They  produce  eggs  three  or  four  times  during  the  year. 


45  Mr.   B.    P.    Brent,   'The    Canary,  47  Bechstein,   '  Naturgescb.   der    Stu- 

British  Finches,'  <fcc,  pp.  21,  30.  benvogel,'  1S40,  s.  243;  see  s.  252,  on 

48  '  Cottage  Gai'dener,' Dec.  11th,  1S55,  the    inherited    song    of    Canary-birds, 

p.  1S4.     An  account  is  here  given  of  all  With  respect  to  their  baldness,  see  also 

the  varieties.     For  many  measurements  W.  Kidd's  '  Treatise  on  Song-Birds.' 

of  the  wild  birds,  see  Mr.  E.  Vernon  Har-  48  W.  Kidd's  '  Treatise  on  Song-Birds.' 

court,  id.,  Dec.  25th,  1S55,  p.  223.*  p.  18. 


Chap.  VIIL  GOLD-FISH. 


GOLD-FlSH. 


357 


Besides  mammals  and  birds,  few  animals  belonging  to 
the  other  great  classes  have  been  domesticated;  but  to 
show  that  it  is  an  almost  universal  law  that  animals, 
when  removed  from  their  natural  conditions  of  life, 
vary,  and  that  races  can  be  formed  when  selection  is 
applied,  it  is  necessary  to  say  a  few  words  on  gold-fish, 
bees,  and  silk-moths. 

Gold-fish  (Cyprinus  auratus)  were  introduced  into 
Europe  only  two  or  three  centuries  ago  ;  but  it  is  be- 
lieved that  they  have  been  kept  in  confinement  from  an 
ancient  period  in  China.  Mr.  Blyth 49  suspects  from  the 
analogous  variation  of  other  fishes  that  golden-coloured 
fish  do  not  occur  in  a  state  of  nature.  These  fishes  fre- 
quently live  under  the  most  unnatural  conditions,  and 
their  variability  in  colour,  size,  and  in  some  important 
points  of  structure  is  very  great.  M.  Sauvigny  has  de- 
scribed and  given  coloured  drawings  of  no  less  than 
eighty-nine  varieties.50  Many  of  the  varieties,  however, 
such  as  triple  tail-fins,  &c,  ought  to  be  called  monstrosi- 
ties ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  draw  any  distinct  line  between 
a  variation  and  a  monstrosity.  As  gold-fish  are  kept  for 
ornament  or  curiosity,  and  as  "the  Chinese  are  just  the 
people  to  have  secluded  a  chance  variety  of  any  kind, 
and  to  have  matched  and  paired  from  it,"  "  we  may  feel 
nearly  confident  that  selection  has  been  largely  practised 
in  the  formation  of  new  breeds.  It  is  however  a  singular 
fact  that  some  of  the  monstrosities  or  variations  are  not 
inherited ;  for  Sir  R.  Heron 62  kept  many  of  these  fishes, 
and  placed  all  the  deformed  fishes,  namely,  those  desti- 
tute of  dorsal  fins,  and  those  furnished  with  a  double 
anal  fin,  or  triple  tail,  in  a  pond  by  themselves  ;    but 


«»  The  'Indian  Field,'  1853,  p.  255.  1S5S,  p.  255. 

60  Yarrell's  'British  Fishes,' vol.  i.  p.  »2  '  Proc.    Zoolog.    Soc.,'    May   25th, 

819.  1S42. 
41  Mr.  Blyth,  in  the  'Indian   Field,' 


358  HIVE-BEES.  Chap.  VIII. 

they  did  "  not  produce  a  greater  proportion  of  deform- 
ed offspring  than  the  perfect  fishes." 

Passing  over  an  almost  infinite  diversity  of  colour,  we 
meet  with  the  most  extraordinary  modifications  of  struc- 
ture. Thus,  out  of  about  two  dozen  specimens  bought 
in  London,  Mr.  Yarrell  observed  some  with  the  dorsal 
fin  extending  along  more  than  half  the  length  of  the 
back;  others  with  this  fin  reduced  to  only  five  or  six 
rays ;  and  one  with  no  dorsal  fin.  The  anal  fins  are 
sometimes  double,  and  the  tail  is  often  triple.  This  lat- 
ter deviation  of  structure  seems  generally  to  occur  "  at 
the  expense  of  the  whole  or  part  of  some  other  fin  ;" B3 
but  Bory  de  Saint  Vincent54  saw  at  Madrid  gold-fish 
furnished  with  a  dorsal  fin  and  a  triple  tail.  One  va- 
riety is  characterized  by  a  hump  on  its  back  near  the 
head;  and  the  Rev.  L.  Jenyns56  has  described  a  most 
singular  variety,  imported  from  China,  almost  globular 
in  form  like  a  Diodon,  with  "the  fleshy  part  of  the  tail 
as  if  entirely  cut  away ;  the  caudal  fin  being  set  on  a 
little  behind  the  dorsal  and  immediately  above  the  anal." 
In  this  fish  the  anal  and  caudal  fins  were  double  ;  the  anal 
fin  being  attached  to  the  body  in  a  vertical  line :  the  eyes 
also  were  enormously  large  and  protuberant. 

Hive-Bees. 

Bees  have  been  domesticated  from  an  ancient  period  ;  if 
indeed  their  state  can  be  considered  one  of  domestication, 
for  they  search  for  their  own  food,  with  the  exception  of 
a  little  generally  given  to  them  during  the  winter.  Their 
habitation  is  a  hive  instead  of  a  hole  in  a  tree.  Bees, 
however,  have  been  transported  into  almost  every  quarter 
of  the  world,  so  that  climate  ought  to  have  produced 


63  Yarrell's  'British  Fishes,'  vol.  i.  p.  p.  211.    Dr.  Gray  has  described,  in  '  An- 

319.  rials  and  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,'  1860,  p. 

6*  '  Diet.  Class.  d'Hist.  Nat.,'  torn.  v.  151,  a  nearly  similar  variety,  but  desti- 

p.  276.  tute  of  a  dorsal  fin. 

66  '  Observations  in  Nat.  Hist.,'  1846, 


Chap.  VIII.  IIIVE-BEES.  359 

whatever  direct  effect  it  is  capable  of  producing.  It  is 
frequently  asserted  that  the  bees  in  different  parts  of 
Great  Britain  differ  in  size,  colour,  and  temper;  and 
Godron 6S  says  that  they  are  generally  larger  in  the  south 
than  in  other  parts  of  France ;  it  has  also  been  asserted 
that  the  little  brown  bees  of  High  Burgundy,  when 
transported  to  La  Bresse,  become  large  and  yellow  in 
the  second  generation.  But  these  statements  require 
confirmation.  As  far  as  size  is  concerned,  it  is  known 
that  bees  produced  in  very  old  combs  are  smaller,  owing 
to  the  cells  having  become  smaller  from  the  successive 
old  cocoons.  The  best  authorities  "  concur  that,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Ligurian  race  or  species,  presently 
to  be  mentioned,  distinct  breeds  do  not  exist  in  Britain 
or  on  the  Continent.  There  is,  however,  even  in  the 
same  stock,  some  variability  in  colour.  Thus  Mr.  Wood- 
bury states 68  that  he  has  several"  times  seen  queen  bees  of 
the  common  kind  annulated  with  yellow  like  Ligurian 
queens,  and  the  latter  dark-coloured  like  common  bees. 
He  has  also  observed  variations  in  the  colour  of  the 
drones,  without  any  corresponding  difference  in  the 
queens  or  workers  of  the  same  hive.  The  great  apiarian 
Dzierzon,  in  answer  to  my  queries  on  this  subject,  says 69 
that  in  Germany  bees  of  some  stocks  are  decidedly  dark, 
whilst  others  are  remarkable  for  their  yellow  colour. 
Bees  also  seem  to  differ  in  habits  in  different  districts,  for 
Dzierzon  adds,  "If  many  stocks  with  their  offspring  are 
more  inclined  to  swarm,  whilst  others  are  richer  in  honey, 
so  that  some  bee-keepers  even  distinguish  between  swarm- 
ing and  honey-gathering  bees,  this  is  a  habit  which  has 


68  '  De  l'Espece,'  1S59,  p.  459.    With  plicitly  trusted;  see  'Journal  of  Horti- 

respect  to  the  bees  of  Burgundy,  see  M.  culture,'  July  14th,  1863,  p.  39. 

Gerard,  art.  '  Espece,'  in  'Diet.  Univers.  69  'Journal  of  Horticulture,'  Sept.  9th, 

d'Hist.  Xat.'  1S62,  p.  463;  see  also  Herr  Kleine  on 

87  See  a  discussion  on  this  subject,  in  same  subject  (Nov.  11th,  p.  643),  who 

answer  to  a  question  of  mine,  in 'Journal  sums  up,   that,    though  there  is  some 

of  Horticulture,'  1S62,  pp.  225-242  ;  also  variability  in  colour,  no  constant  or  per- 

Mr.  Bevan  Fox,  in  ditto,  1862,  p.  284.  ceptible  differences  can  be  detected  in 

68  This  excellent  observer  may  be  im-  the  bees  of  Germany. 


360  HIVE-BEES.  Chap.  VIII. 

become  second  nature,  caused  by  the  customary  mode  of 
keeping  the  bees  and  the  pasturage  of  the  district.  For 
example ;  what  a  difference  in  this  » respect  one  may 
perceive  to  exist  between  the  bees  of  the  Liineburg  heath 

and  those  of  this  country !" "  Removing  an  old 

queen  and  substituting  a  young  one  of  the '  current  year 
is  here  an  infallible  mode  of  keeping  the  strongest  stock 
from  swarming  and  preventing  drone-breeding ;  whilst 
the  same  means  if  adopted  in  Hanover  would  certainly 
be  of  no  avail."  I  procured  a  hive  full  of  dead  bees 
from  Jamaica,  where  they  have  long  been  naturalised, 
and,  on  carefully  comparing  them  under  the  microscope 
with  my  own  bees,  I  could  detect  not  a  trace  of  dif- 
ference. 

This  remarkable  uniformity  in  the  hive-bee,  wherever 
kept,  may  probably  be  accounted  for  by  the  great  diffi- 
culty, or  rather  impossibility,  of  bringing  selection  into 
play  by  pairing  particular  queens  and  drones,  for  these 
insects  unite  only  during  flight.  Nor  is  there  any  record, 
with  a  single  partial  exception,  of  any  person  having 
separated  and  bred  from  a  hive  in  which  the  workers 
presented  some  appreciable  difference.  In  order  to  form 
a  new  breed,  seclusion  from  other  bees  would,  as  we  now 
know,  be  indispensable  ;  for  since  the  introduction  of  the 
Ligurian  bee  into  Germany  and  England,  it  has  been 
found  that  the  drones  wander  at  least  two  miles  from 
their  own  hives,  and  often  cross  with  the  queens  of  the 
common  bee.00  The  Ligurian  bee,  although  perfectly 
fertile  when  crossed  with  the  common  kind,  is  ranked  by 
most  naturalists  as  a  distinct  species,  whilst  by  others  it 
is  ranked  as  a  natural  variety:  but  this  form  need  not 
here  be  noticed,  as  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  it  is 
the  product  of  domestication.  The  Egyptian  and  some 
other  bees  are  likewise  ranked  by  Dr.  Gerstacker,61  but 


80  Mr.  Woodbury  has  published  seve-  el  '  Annals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.   Hist,' 

ral  such  accounts  in  '  Journal  of  Horti-        8rd  series,  vol.  xi.  p.  389. 
culture,'  1861  and  1862. 


Chap.  VIII.  SILK-MOTHS.  361 

not  by  other  highly  competent  judges,  as  geographical 
races;  and  he  grounds  his  conclusion  in  chief  part  ou 
the  fact  that  in  certain  districts,  as  in  the  Crimea  and 
Rhodes,  the  hive-bee  varies  so  much  in  colour,  that  the 
several  geographical  races  can  be  closely  connected  by 
intermediate  forms. 

I  have  alluded  to  a  single  instance  of  the  separation 
and  preservation  of  a  particular  stock  of  bees.  Mr.  Lowe 63 
procured  some  bees  from  a  cottager  a  few  miles  from 
Edinburgh,  and  perceived  that  they  differed  from  the  com- 
mon bee  in  the  hairs  on  the  head  and  thorax  being  light- 
er coloured  and  more  profuse  in  quantity.  From  the  date 
of  the  introduction  of  the  Ligurianbee  into  Gfreat  Britain 
we  may  feel  sure  that  these  bees  had  not  been  crossed 
with  this  form.  Mr.  Lowe  propagated  this  variety,  but 
unfortunately  did  not  separate  the  stock  from  his  other 
bees,  and  after  three  generations  the  new  character  was 
almost  completely  lost.  ^Nevertheless,  as  he  adds,  "  a 
great  number  of  the  bees  still  retain  traces,  though  faint, 
of  the  original  colony."  This  case  shows  us  what  could 
probably  be  effected  by  careful  and  long-continued  selec- 
tion applied  exclusively  to  the  workers,  for,  as  we  have 
seen,  queens  and  drones  cannot  be  selected  and  paired. 

Silk-Moths. 

These  insects  are  in  several  respects  interesting  to  us, 
more  especially  because  they  have  varied  largely  at  early 
periods  of  life,  and  the  variations  have  been  inherited  at 
corresponding  periods.  As  the  value  of  the  silk-moth 
depends  entirely  on  the  cocoon,  every  change  in  its  struc- 
ture and  qualities  has  been  carefully  attended  to,  and 
races  differing  much  in  the  cocoon,  but  hardly  at  all  in 
the  adult  state,  have  been  produced.     With  the  races  of 


«  '  The  Cottage  Gardener,'  May,  I860,  p.  110  ;  and  ditto  in  '  Journal  of  Hort..'  1S62, 
P.  242. 

16 


3C2  SILK-MOTHS.  Chap.  VIII. 

most  other  domestic  animals,  tlie  young  resemble  each 
other  closely,  whilst  the  adults  differ  much. 

It  would  be  useless,  even  if  it  were  possible,  to  describe 
all  the  many  kinds  of  silk-worms.  Several  distinct  spe- 
cies exist  in  India  and  China  which  produce  useful  silk, 
and  some  of  these  are  capable  of  freely  crossing  with  the 
common  silk-moth,  as  has  been  recently  ascertained  in 
France.  Captain  Hutton63  states  that  throughout  the 
world  at  least  six  species  have  been  domesticated  ;  and 
he  believes  that  the  silk-moths  reared  in  Europe  belong 
to  two  or  three  species.  This,  however,  is  not  the  opi- 
nion of  several  capable  judges  who  have  particularly  at- 
tended to  the  cultivation  of  this  insect  in  France ;  and 
hardly  accords  with  some  facts  presently  to  be  given. 

The  common  silk-moth  {Bombyx  mori)  was  brought 
to  Constantinople  in  the  sixth  century,  whence  it  was 
carried  into  Italy,  and  in  1494  into  France.64  Everything 
has  been  favourable  for  the  variation  df  this  insect.  It 
is  believed  to  have  been  domesticated  in  China  as  long 
ago  as  2700  b.c.  It  has  been  kept  under  unnatural  and 
diversified  conditions  of  life,  and  has  been  transported 
into  many  countries.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
nature  of  the  food  given  to  the  caterpillar  influences  to  a 
certain  extent  the  character  of  the  breed.66  Disuse  has 
apparently  aided  in  checking  the  development  of  the 
wings.  But  the  most  important  element  in  the  produc- 
tion of  the  many  now  existing,  much  modified  races,  no 
doubt  has  been  the  close  attention  which  has  lonsc  been 
applied  in  many  countries  to  every  promising  variation. 
The  care  taken  in  Europe  in  the  selection  of  the  best  co- 
coons and  moths  for  breeding  is  notorious,68  and  the  pro- 


63 'Transact.  Entomolog.  Soc.,' 3rd  se-  General    nearsey,   and  others,   at    the 

ries,  vol.  iii.  pp.  143-173,  and  pp.  295-331.  meeting  of  the  Entomolog.  Soc.  of  Lon- 

6«  Godron,  '  De  1'  Espece,'  1S59,  torn.  i.  don,  July,  1861. 

p.  460.    The  antiquity  of  the  silk-worm  6G  See,  for  instance,  M.  A.  de  Quatre- 

In  Cliina  is  given  on   the  authority  of  fage's  '  Etudes  sur  les  Maladies  actuelles 

Stanislas  Julien,  du  Ver  &  Soie,'  1859,  p.  101. 

••  See  the  remarks  of  Prof.  Westwood, 


Chap.  VIII.  THEIR    DIFFERENCES.  363 

duction  of  eggs  is  followed  as  a  distinct  trade  in  parts  of 
France.  I  have  made  inquiries  through  Dr.  Falconer, 
and  am  assured  that  in  India  the  natives  are  equally  care- 
ful in  the  process  of  selection.  In  China  the  production 
of  eggs  is  confined  to  certain  favourable  districts,  and  the 
raisers  are  precluded  by  law  from  producing  silk,  so  that 
their  whole  attention  may  be  necessarily  given  up  to  this 
one  object." 

The  following  details  on  the  differences  between  the  several 
breeds  are  taken,  when  not  stated  to  the  contrary,  from  M.  Robinet's 
excellent  work,63  which  bears  every  sign  of  care  and  large  ex- 
perience. The  eggs  in  the  different  races  vary  in  colour,  in  shape 
(being  round,  elliptic,  or  oval),  and  in  size.  The  eggs  laid  in  June 
in  the  south  of  France,  and  in  July  in  the  central  provinces,  do  not 
hatch  until  the  following  spring  ;  and  it  is  in  vain,  says  M.  Robinet, 
to  expose  them  to  a  temperature  gradually  raised,  in  order  that  the 
caterpillar  may  be  quickly  developed.  Yet  occasionally,  without 
any  known  cause,  batches  of  eggs  are  produced,  which  immediately 
begin  to  undergo  the  proper  changes,  and  are  hatched  in  from 
twenty  to  thirty  days.  From  these  and  some  other  analogous  facts 
it  may  be  concluded  that  the  Trevoltini  silkworms  of  Italy,  of 
which  the  caterpillars  are  hatched  in  from  fifteen  to  twenty  days, 
do  not  necessarily  form,  as  has  been  maintained,  a  distinct  species. 
Although  the  breeds  which  live  in  temperate  countries  produce 
eggs  which  cannot  be  immediately  hatched  by  artificial  heat,  yet 
when  they  are  removed  to  and  reared  in  a  hot  country  they  gra- 
dually acquire  the  character  of  quick  development,  as  in  the  Trevol- 
tini races.69 

Caterpillars. — These  vary  greatly  in  size  and  colour.  The  skin  is 
generally  white,  sometimes  mottled  with  black  or  grey,  and  occasion- 
ally quite  black.  The  colour,  however,  as  M.  Robinet  asserts,  is 
not  constant,  even  in  perfectly  pure  breeds  ;  except  in  the  race 
tigree,  so  called  from  being  marked  with  transverse  black  stripes. 


87  My  authorities  for  these  statements  which  were  even  worse  in  this  respect. 

will  be  given  in  the  chapter  on  Selection.  Some  were  hatched   in  ten   days,  and 

•8  '  Manuel  de  l'Educateur  de  Vers  a  others  not  until  after  the  lapse  of  many 

Sole,'  1848.  months.     No  doubt  a  regular  early  cha- 

•'  Robinet,  idem,  pp.  12, 318.     I  may  racter  would  ultimately  have  been  ac- 

add  that  the  eggs  of  N.  American  silk-  quired.     See    review  in   '  Athenaeum,' 

worms  taken  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  1S44,  p.  829,  of  J.  Jarves'  '  Scenes  in  the 

were  very  irregularly  developed  ;    and  Sandwich  Islands.' 
the  moths  thus  raised  produced  eggs 


364  SILK-MOTHS.  Chap.  VIII. 

As  the  general  colour  of  the  caterpillar  is  not  correlated  with  that 
of  the  silk,70  this  character  is  disregarded  by  cultivators,  and  has 
not  been  fixed  by  selection.  Captain  Hutton,  in  the  paper  before 
referred  to,  has  argued  with  much  force  that  the  dark  tiger- 
like marks,  which  so  frequently  appear  during  the  later  moults  in 
the  caterpillars  of  various  breeds,  are  due  to  reversion ;  for  the 
caterpillars  of  several  allied  wild  species  of  Bombyx  are  marked 
and  coloured  in  this  manner.  He  separated  some  caterpillars  with 
the  tiger-like  marks,  and  in  the  succeeding  spring  (pp.  149,  298) 
nearly  all  the  caterpillars  reared  from  them  were  dark-brindled,  and 
the  tints  became  still  darker  in  the  third  generation.  The  moths 
reared  from  these  caterpillars 71  also  became  darker,  and  resembled 
in  colouring  the  wild  B.  Huttoni.  On  this  view  of  the  tiger  like 
marks  being  due  to  reversion,  the  persistency  with  which  they  are 
transmitted  is  intelligible. 

Several  years  ago  Mrs.  Whitby  took  great  pains  in  breeding  silk- 
worms on  a  large  scale,  and  she  informed  me  that  some  of  her 
caterpillars  had  dai'k  eyebrows.  This  is  probably  the  first  step  in 
reversion  towards  the  tiger-like  marks,  and  I  was  curious  to  know 
whether  so  trifling  a  character  would  be  inherited  ;  at  my  request 
she  separated  in  1848  twenty  of  these  caterpillars,  and  having  kept 
the  moths  separate,  bred  from  them.  Of  the  many  caterpillars  thus 
reared,  "  every  one  without  exception  had  eyebrows,  some  darker 
and  more  decidedly  marked  than  the  others,  but  all  had  eyebrows 
more  or  less  plainly  visible."  Black  caterpillars  occasionally  appear 
amongst  those  of  the  common  kind,  but  in  so  variable  a  manner, 
that  according  to  M.  Robinet  the  same  race  will  one  year  exclusively 
produce  white  caterpillars,  and  the  next  year  many  black  ones  ; 
nevertheless,  I  have  been  informed  by  M.  A.  Bossi  of  Geneva,  that, 
if  these  black  caterpillars  are  separately  bred  from,  they  reproduce 
the  same  colour  ;  but  the  cocoons  and  moths  reared  from  them  do 
not  present  any  difference. 

The  caterpillar  in  Europe  ordinarily  moults  four  times  before 
passing  into  the  cocoon  stage  ;  but  there  are  races  "  a  trois  mues," 
and  the  Trevoltini  race  likewise  moults  only  thrice.  It  might  have 
been  thought  that  so  important  a  physiological  difference  would 
not  have  arisen  under  domestication ;  but  M.  Robinet 72  states  that, 
on  the  one  hand,  ordinary  caterpillars  occasionally  spin  their  cocoons 
after  only  three  moults,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  "  presque  toutes  les 
races  a  trois  mues,  que  nous  avons  experimentees,  ont  fait  quatre 


70  'The  Art  of  rearing  Silk-worms,'  71  '  Transact.  Ent.  Soc.,' ut  supra,  pp. 

translated  from  Count  Dandolo,  1825,  p. '      153,  808. 
S3.  ™  Robinet,  Idem,  p.  81T. 


Chap.  VIII.  THEIR    DIFFERENCES.  365 

mues  :i  la  seconde  on  si  la  troisieme  annee,  ce  qui  semble  prouver 
qu'il  a  suffi  de  les  placer  dans  des  conditions  favorables  pour  leur 
rendre  nne  faculte  qu'clles  avaient  perdue  sous  des  influences  moins 
favorables." 

Cocoons. — The  caterpillar  in  changing  into  the  cocoon  loses  about 
50  per  cent,  of  its  weight ;  but  the  amount  of  loss  differs  in  differ- 
ent breeds,  and  this  is  of  importance  to  the  cultivator.  The  cocoon 
in  the  different  races  presents  characteristic  differences  ;  being 
large  or  small; — nearly  spherical  with  no  constriction,  as  in  the 
Race  de  Loriol,  or  cylindrical  with  either  a  deep  or  slight  constric- 
tion in  the  middle  ; — with  the  two  ends,  or  with  one  end  alone, 
more  or  less  pointed.  The  silk  varies  in  fineness  and  quality,  and 
in  being  nearly  white,  of  two  tints,  or  yellow.  Generally  the 
colour  of  the  silk  is  not  strictly  inherited  :  but  in  the  chapter  on 
Selection  I  shall  give  a  curious  account  how,  in  the  course  of  sixty- 
five  generations,  the  number  of  yellow  cocoons  in  one  breed  has 
been  reduced  in  France  from  one  hundred  to  thirty-five  in,  the 
thousand.  According  to  Robinet,  the  white  race,  called  Sina,  by 
careful  selection  during  the  last  seventy-five  years,  "  est  arrivee  a 
un  tel  etat  de  purete,  qu'on  ne  voit  pas  un  seul  cocon  jaune  dans 
des  millions  de  cocons  blancs." 73  Cocoons  are  sometimes  formed, 
as  is  well  known,  entirely  destitute  of  silk,  which  yet  produce 
moths  ;  unfortunately  Mrs.  Whitby  was  prevented  by  an  accident 
from  ascertaining  whether  this  character  would  prove  hereditary. 

Adult  stage. — I  can  find  no  account  of  any  constant  difference  in 
the  moths  of  the  most  distinct  races.  Mrs.  Whitby  assured  me  that 
there  was  none  in  the  several  kinds  bred  by  her ;  and  I  have  re- 
ceived a  similar  statement  from  the  eminent  naturalist  M.  de  Qua- 
trefages.  Captain  Hutton  also  says 74  that  the  moths  of  all  kinds 
vary  much  in  colour,  but  in  nearly  the  same  inconstant  manner. 
Considering  how  much  the  cocoons  in  the  several  races  differ,  this 
fact  is  of  interest,  and  may  probably  be  accounted  for  on  the  same 
principle  as  the  fluctuating  variability  of  colour  in  the  caterpillar, 
namely,  that  there  has  been  no  motive  for  selecting  and  perpetuat- 
ing any  particular  variation. 

The  males  of  the  wild  Bonibycidae  "  fly  swiftly  in  the  day-time 
and  evening,  but  the  females  are  usually  very  sluggish  and  inac- 
tive." 75  In  several  moths  of  this  family  the  females  have  abortive 
wings,  but  no  instance  is  known  of  the  males  being  incapable  of 
flight,  for  in  this  case  the  species  could  hardly  have  been  perpetu- 


73  Robinet,  Idem,  pp.  80C-31T.  '*  Stephens'  Illustrations,  *  Haustel- 

74  '  Transact.  Ent.  Soc'  ut  supra,  p.        lala.'  vo1-  "•  P-  35-    See  also  Capt.  Hut- 
817.  ton,  '  Transact.  Ent.  Soc'  idem,  p.  152. 


366  SILK-MOTHS.  Chap.  VIII. 

ated.  In  the  silk-moth  both  sexes  have  imperfect,  crumpled  wings, 
and  are  incapable  of  flight ;  but  still  there  is  a  trace  of  the  charac- 
teristic difference  in  the  two  sexes ;  for  though,  on  comparing  a 
number  of  males  and  females,  I  could  detect  no  difference  in  the  de- 
velopment of  their  wings,  yet  I  was  assured  by  Mrs.  Whitby  that 
the  males  of  the  moths  bred  by  her  used  their  wings  more  than  the 
females,  and  could  flutter  downwards,  though  never  upwards.  She 
also  states  that,  when  the  females  first  emerge  from  the  cocoon, 
their  wings  are  less  expanded  than  those  of  the  male.  The  degree 
of  imperfection,  however,  in  the  wings  varies  much  in  different 
races  and  under  different  circumstances  ;  M.  Quatrefages76  says  that 
he  has  seen  a  number  of  moths  with  their  wings  reduced  to  a  third, 
fourth,  or  tenth  part  of  their  normal  dimensions,  and  even  to  mere 
short  straight  stumps :  "  il  me  semble  qu'il  y  a  la  un  veritable  arret 
de  developpement  partiel."  On  the  other  hand,  he  describes  the  fe- 
male moths  of  the  Andre  Jean  breed  as  having  "  leurs  ailes  larges 
et  etalees.  Un  seul  presente  quelques  courbures  irregulieres  et  des 
plis  anomaux."  As  moths  and  butterflies  of  all  kinds  reared  from 
wHd  caterpillars  under  confinement  often  have  crippled  wings,  the 
same  cause,  whatever  it  may  be,  has  probably  acted  on  silk-moths, 
but  the  disuse  of  their  wings  fluring  so  many  generations  has,  it 
may  be  suspected,  likewise  come  into  play. 

The  moths  of  many  breeds  fail  to  glue  their  eggs  to  the  surface 
on  which  they  are  laid,77  but  this  proceeds,  according  to  Capt.  Hut- 
ton,78  merely  from  the  glands  of  the  ovipositor  being  weakened. 

As  with  other  long-domesticated  animals,  the  instincts  of  the  silk- 
moth  have  suffered.  The  caterpillars,  when  placed  on  a  mulberry- 
tree,  often  commit  the  strange  mistake  of  devouring  the  base  of  the 
leaf  on  which  they  are  feeding,  and  consequently  fall  down  ;  but 
they  are  capable,  according  to  M.  Robinet,79  of  again  crawling  up 
the  trunk.  Even  this  capacity  sometimes  fails,  for  M.  Martins  80 
placed  some  caterpillars  on  a  tree,  and  those  which  fell  were  not 
able  to  remount  and  perished  of  hunger ;  they  were  even  inca- 
pable of  passing  from  leaf  to  leaf. 

Some  of  the  modifications  which  the  silk-moth  has  undergone 
stand  in  correlation  with  each  other.  Thus  the  eggs  of  the  moths 
which  produce  white  cocoons  and  of  those  which  produce  yellow  co- 
coons differ  slightly  in  tint.  The  abdominal  feet  also  of  the  cater- 
pillars which  yield  white  cocoons  are  always  white,  whilst  those 


t«  •  Etudes  sur  les  Maladies  du  Ver  a  78  '  Transact.  Ent.  Soc.,'  ut  supra,  p. 

Soie,'  1859,  pp.  304,  209.  151. 

77  Quatrefages,     'Etudes,'    &c,     p.  78  'Manuel  de  l'Educateur,'  &c,  p.  26. 

214.  80  Godron,  '  De  I'Espece,'  p.  462. 


Chap.  VIII.  THEIR    DIFFERENCES.  3G7 

which  give  yellow  cocoons  are  invariably  yellow."1  We  have  seen 
that  the  caterpillars  with  dark  tiger-like  stripes  produce  moths 
which  are  more  darkly  shaded  than  other  moths.  It  seems  well 
established  n  that  in  France  the  caterpillars  of  the  races  which  pro- 
duce white  silk,  and  certain  black  caterpillars,  have  resisted,  better 
than  other  races,  the  disease  which  has  recently  devastated  the  silk- 
districts.  Lastly,  the  races  differ  constitutionally,  for  some  do  not 
succeed  so  well  under  a  temperate  climate  as  others  ;  and  a  damp 
soil  does  not  equally  inj  lire  all  the  races.83 

From  these  various  facts  we  learn  that  silk-moths,  like 
the  higher  animals,  vary  greatly  under  long-continued 
domestication.  We  learn  also  the  more  important  fact 
that  variations  may  occur  at  various  periods  of  life,  and 
be  inherited  at  corresponding  periods.  And  finally  we 
see  that  insects  are  amenable  to  the  great  principle  of 
Selection. 

81  Quatrefages, '  Etudes,'  4c,  pp.  12,  «2  Robinet,  '  Manuel,'  &c,  p.  808. 

209,  214.  83  Robinet,  idem,  p.  15. 


368  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,  Chap.  IX. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CULTIVATED  PLANTS  :  CEREAL  AND  CULINARY  PLANTS. 
PRELIMINARY  REMARKS  on  the  number  and  parentage 

OF  CULTIVATED  PLANTS  —  FIRST  STEPS  IN  CULTIVATION  —  GEO- 
GRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION  OF  CULTIVATED  PLANTS. 

CEREALIA.  —  DOUBTS  ON  THE  NUMBER  OF  SPECIES. WHEAT  : 

VARIETIES    OF  —  INDIVIDUAL   VARIABILITY  —  CHANGED    HABITS 

—  SELECTION — ANCIENT     HISTORY      OF     THE     VARIETIES. 

MAIZE  :   GREAT  VARIATION  OF  —  DIRECT  ACTION  OF  CLIMATE  ON. 

CULINARY  PLANTS. —cabbages:  varieties  of,  in  foliage 

AND  STEMS,  BUT  NOT  IN  OTHER  PARTS  — PARENTAGE  OF  —  OTHER 

SPECIES    OF   BRASSICA. PEAS  :    AMOUNT   OF   DIFFERENCE   IN 

THE  SEVERAL  KINDS,  CHIEFLY  IN  THE  PODS  AND  SEED  —  SOME 
VARIETIES  CONSTANT,  SOME  HIGHLY  VARIABLE  —  DO  NOT  INTER- 
CROSS.   BEANS. POTATOES  :    NUMEROUS  VARIETIES  OF  — 

DIFFERING  LITTLE,  EXCEPT  IN  THE  TUBERS  —  CHARACTERS  IN- 
HERITED. 

I  shall  not  enter  into  so  much  detail  on  the  variability  of 
cultivated  plants,  as  in  the  case  of  domesticated  animals. 
The  subject  is  involved  in  much  difficulty.  Botanists 
have  generally  neglected  cultivated  varieties,  as  beneath 
their  notice.  In  several  cases  the  wild  prototype  is  un- 
known or  doubtfully  known  ;  and  in  other  cases  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  distinguish  between  escaped  seedlings 
and  truly  wild  plants,  so  that  there  is  no  safe  standard 
of  comparison  by  which  to  judge  of  any  supposed  amount 
of  change.  Not  a  few  botanists  believe  that  several  of 
our  anciently  cultivated  plants  have  become  so  profoundly 
modified  that  it  is  not  possible  now  to  recognise  their 
aboriginal    parent-forms.      Equally  perplexing   are   the 


Chip.  IX.  ON    CULTIVATED    PLANTS.  369 

doubts  whether  some  of  them  are  descended  from  one 
species,  or  from  several  inextricably  commingled  by- 
crossing  and  variation.  Variations  often  pass  into,  and 
cannot  be  distinguished  from,  monstrosities  ;  and  mon- 
strosities are  of  little  significance  for  our  purpose.  Many 
varieties  are  propagated  solely  by  grafts,  buds,  layers, 
bulbs,  &c,  and  frequently  it  is  not  known  how  far 
their  peculiarities  can  be  transmitted  by  seminal  genera- 
tion. Nevertheless  some  facts  of  value  can  be  gleaned ; 
and  other  facts  will  hereafter  be  incidentally  given.  One 
chief  object  in  the  two  following  chapters  is  to  show  how 
generally  almost  every  character  in  our  cultivated  plants 
has  become  variable. 

Before  entering  on  details  a  few  general  remarks  on 
the  origin  of  cultivated  plants  may  be  introduced.  M. 
Alph.  de  Candolle1  in  an  admirable  discussion  on  this 
subject,  in  which  he  displays  a  wonderful  amount  of 
knowledge,  gives  a  list  of  157  of  the  most  useful  cultivat- 
ed plants.  Of  these  he  believes  that  85  are  almost  cer- 
tainly known  in  their  wild  state ;  but  on  this  head  other 
competent  judges 2  entertain  great  doubts.  Of  40  of  them, 
the  origin  is  admitted  by  M.  De  Candolle  to  be  doubtful, 
either  from  a  certain  amount  of  dissimilarity  which  they 
present  when  compared  with  their  nearest  allies  in  a  wild 
state,  or  from  the  probability  of  the  latter  not  being  truly 
wild  plants,  but  seedlings  escaped  from  culture.  Of 
the  entire  157,  32  alone  are  ranked  by  M.  De  Candolle 
as  quite  unknown  in  their  aboriginal  condition.  But  it 
should  be  observed  that  he  does  not  include  in  his  ljst 
several  plants  which  present  ill-defined  characters,  namely, 
the  various  forms  of  pumpkins,  miltet,  sorghum,  kidney- 
bean,  dolichos,  capsicum,  and  indigo.  Nor  does  he  in- 
clude flowers ;  and  several  of  the  more  anciently  culti- 


1  '  G^ographie  Botanique  Raisonnee,'        '  Historical  Notes  on  Cultivated  Plants,* 
1855,  pp.  810  to  991.  by  Dr.  A.  Targioni-Tozzetti.     See  also 

*  Review  by  Mr.  Bentham  in  '  Hort.        '  Edinburgh  Review,'  1866,  p.  510. 
Journal,'  vol.  ix.  1855,  p.  133,  entitled 
16* 


370  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,  Chap.  IX 

vated  flowers,  such  as  certain  roses,  the  common  Imperial 
lily,  the  tuberose,  and  even  the  lilac,  are  said 3  not  to  be 
known  in  the  wild  state. 

From  the  relative  numbers  above  given,  and  from  other 
arguments  of  much  weight,  M.  De  Candolle  concludes 
that  plants  have  rarely  been  so  much  modified  by  culture 
that  they  cannot  be  identified  with  their  wild  prototypes. 
But  on  this  view,  considering  that  savages  probably 
would  not  have  chosen  rare  plants  for  cultivation,  that 
useful  plants  are  generally  conspicuous,  and  that  they 
could  not  have  been  the  inhabitants  of  deserts  or  of  re- 
mote and  recently  discovered  islands,  it  appears  strange 
to  me  that  so  many  of  our  cultivated  plants  should  be 
still  unknown  or  only  doubtfully  known  in  the  wild  state. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  many  of  these  plants  have  been 
profoundly  modified  by  culture,  the  difficulty  disappears. 
Their  extermination  during  the  progress  of  civilisation 
would  likewise  remove  the  difficulty ;  but  M.  De  Candolle 
has  shown  that  this  probably  has  seldom  occurred.  As 
soon  as  a  plant  became  cultivated  in  any  country,  the 
half-civilised  inhabitants  would  no  longer  have  need 
to  search  the  whole  surface  of  the  land  for  it,  and  thus 
lead  to  its  extirpation ;  and  even  if  this  did  occur  during 
a  famine,  dormant  seeds  would  be  left  in  the  ground.  In 
tropical  countries  the  wild  luxuriance  of  nature,  as  was 
long  ago  remarked  by  Humboldt,  overpowers  the  feeble 
efforts  of  man.  In  anciently  civilised  temperate  coun- 
tries, where  the  whole  face  of  the  land  has  been  greatly 
changed,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  some  plants  have 
been  exterminated ;  nevertheless  De  Candolle  has  shown 
that  all  the  plants  historically  known  to  have  been  first 
cultivated  in  Europe  still  exist  here  in  the  wild  state. 

MM.  Loiseleur-Deslongchamps 4  and  De  Candolle  have 


3  '  Hist.  Notes,'  as  above,  by  Targioni-  p.  930.     "  Plus  on  suppose  l'agriculture 

Tozzetti.  ancienne  et   remontant  a  une   cpoque 

*  '  Considerations    sur   les  Cereales,'  d'ignorance,  plus  il  est  probable  que  les 

1842,  p.  ST.      '  Geographle  Bot.,'  1865,  cultivateurs  avaient  choisi  des  especes 


Chap.  IX.  ON    CULTIVATED    PLANTS.  371 

remarked  that  our  cttltirated  plants,  more  especially  the 
cereals,  must  originally  have  existed  in  nearly  then- 
present  state ;  for  otherwise  they  would  not  have  been 
noticed  and  valued  as  objects  of  food.  But  these  au- 
thors apparently  have  not  considered  the  many  accounts 
given  by  travellers  of  the  wretched  food  collected  by 
savages.  I  have  read  an  account  of  the  savages  of  Aus- 
tralia cooking,  during  a  dearth,  many  vegetables  in  va- 
rious ways,  in  the  hopes  of  rendering  them  innocuous 
and  more  nutritious.  Dr.  Hooker  found  the  half-starved 
inhabitants  of  a  village  in  Sikhim  suffering  greatly  from 
having  eaten  arum-roots,6  which  they  had  pounded  and 
left  for  several  days  to  ferment,  so  as  partially  to  destroy 
their  poisonous  nature  ;  and  he  adds  that  they  cooked 
and  ate  many  other  deleterious  plants.  Sir  Andrew 
Smith  informs  me  that  in  South  Africa  a  large  number 
of  fruits  and  succulent  leaves,  and  especially  roots,  are 
used  in  times  of  scarcity.  The  natives,  indeed,  know 
the  properties  of  a  long  catalogue  of  plants,  some  having 
been  found  during  famines  to  be  eatable,  others  injurious 
to  health,  or  even  destructive  to  life.  He  met  a  party  of 
Baquanas  who,  having  been  expelled  by  the  conquering 
Zulus,  had  lived  for  years  on  any  root's  or  leaves  which 
afforded  some  little  nutriment,  and  distended  their  stom- 
achs, so  as  to  relieve  the  pangs  of  hunger.  They  looked 
like  walking  skeletons,  and  suffered  fearfully  from  con- 
stipation. Sir  Andrew  Smith  also  informs  me  that  on 
such  occasions  the  natives  observe  as  a  guide  for  them- 
selves, what  the  wild  animals,  especially  baboons  and 
monkeys,  eat. 

From  innumerable  experiments  made  through  dire 
necessity  by  the'savages  of  every  land,  with  the  results 
handed  down  by  tradition,  the  nuti-itious,  stimulating, 
and  medicinal  properties  of  the  most  unpromising  plants 

offrant  ;'i  l'origine  meme  un  avantage  in-  formation.  See,  also,  bis  '  Himalayan 
contestable."  Journals,'  1S54,  vol.  ii.  p.  49. 

6  Dr.  Hooker  has  given  me  this  in- 


6T2  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,  Chap.  IX. 

were  probably  first  discovered.  It  appears,  for  instance, 
at  first  an  inexplicable  fact  that  untutored  man,  in  three 
distant  quarters  of  the  world,,  should  have  discovered 
amongst  a  host  of  native  plants  that  the  leaves  of  the 
tea-plant  and  mattee,  an*d  the  berries  of  the  coffee,  all 
included  a  stimulating  and  nutritious  essence,  now  known 
to  be  chemically  the  same.  We  can  also  see  that  sav- 
ages suffering  from  severe  constipation  would  naturally 
observe  whether  any  of  the  roots  which  they  devoured 
acted  as  aperients.  We  probably  owe  our  knowledge 
of  the  uses  of  almost  all  plants  to  man  having  originally 
existed  in  a  barbarous  state,  and  having  been  often  com- 
pelled by  severe  want  to  try  as  food  almost  everything 
which  he  could  chew  and  swallow. 

From  what  we  know  of  the  habits  of  savages  in  many 
quarters  of  the  world,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
our  cereal  plants  originally  existed  in  their  present  state 
so  valuable  to  man.  Let  us  look  to  one  continent  alone, 
namely,  Africa:  Earth*  states  that  the  slaves  over  a 
large  part  of  the  central  region  regularly  collect  the 
seeds  of  a  wild  grass,  the  JPennisetiwi  distichum ;  in 
another  district  he  saw  women  collecting  the  seeds  of  a 
Poa  by  swinging  a  sort  of  basket  through  the  rich  mea- 
dow-land. Near  Tete  Livingstone  observed  the  natives 
collecting  the  seeds  of  a  wild  grass ;  and  farther  south,  as 
Andersson  informs  me,  the  natives  largely  use  the  seeds 
of  a  grass  of  about  the  size  of  canary-seed,  which  they 
boil  in  water.  They  eat  also  the  roots  of  certain  reeds, 
.and  every  one  has  read  of  the  Bushmen  prowling  about 
and  digging  up  with  a  fire-hardened  stake  various  roots. 
Similar  facts  with  respect  to  the  collection  of  seeds  of 
wild  grasses  in  other  parts  of  the  world  could  be  given.7 


6  '  Travels  in  Central  Africa,'  Eng.  Mr.  Edgewovth  ('  Journal  Proc.  Linn. 
translat.,  vol.  i.  pp.  529  and  390;  vol.  ii.  Soc.,'  vol.  vi.  Bot.,  1862,  p.  181)  states 
pp.  29,  265,  270.  Livingstone's  '  Tra-  that  in  the  deserts  of  the  Punjab  poor 
vels,'  p.  551.  women  sweep  up,  "  by  a  whisk  into  straw 

7  Ae  in  both  North  and  South  America.  baskets,"  the  seeds  of  four  genera  of 


Chap.  IX.  OX    CULTIVATED    PLANTS.  373 

Accustomed  as  we  arc  to  our  excellent  vegetables  and 
luscious  fruits,  we  can  hardly  persuade  ourselves  that  the 
stringy  roots  of  the  wild  carrot  and  parsnip,  or  the  little 
shoots  of  the  wild  asparagus,  or  crabs,  sloes,  &c,  should 
ever  have  been  valued  ;  yet,  from  what  we  know  of  the 
habits  of  Australian  and  South  African  savages,  we  need 
feel  no  doubt  on  this  head.  The  inhabitants  of  Switzer- 
land during  the  Stone-period  largely  collected  wild  crabs, 
sloes,  bullaces,  hips  of  roses,  elderbeiTies,  beech-mast, 
and  other  wild  berries  and  fruit.8  Jemmy  Button,  a 
Fuegian  on  board  the  Beagle,  remarked  to  me  that  the 
poor  and  acid  black-currants  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  were  too 
sweet  for  his  taste. 

The  savage  inhabitants  of  each  land,  having  found  out 
by  many  and  hard  trials  what  plants  were  useful,  or 
could  be  rendered  useful  by  various  cooking  processes, 
would  after  a  time  take  the  first  step  in  cultivation  by 
planting  them  near  their  usual  abodes.  Livingstone9 
states  that  the  savage  Batokas  sometimes  left  wild  fruit- 
trees  standing  in  their  gardens,  and  occasionally  even 
planted  them,  "  a  practice  seen  nowhere  else  amongst 
the  natives."  But  Du  Chaillu  saw  a  palm  and  some 
other  wild  fruit-trees  which  had  been  planted  ;  and  these 
trees  were  considered  private  property.  The  next  step 
in  cultivation,  and  this  would  require  but  little  fore- 
thought, would  be  to  sow  the  seeds  of  useful  plants  ;  and 
as  the  soil  near  the  hovels  of  the  natives 10  would  often  be 
in  some  degree  manured,  improved  varieties  would  sooner 
or  later  arise.  Or  a  wild  and  unusually  good  variety  of 
a  native  plant  might  attract  the  attention  of  some  wise 


grasses,  namely,  of  Agrostis,  Panicum,  °  '  Travels,' p.  535.     Du  Chaillu,  '  Ad- 

Cenchrus,  and   Pennisetum,  as  well  as  ventures  in  Equatorial  Africa,'  1S61,  p. 

the  seeds  of  four  other  genera  belonging  445. 

to  distinct  families.  10  In  Tierra  del  Fuego  the  spot  where 

8  Prof.   0.   Heer,   '  Die  Pflanzen    der  wigwams  had  formerly  stood  could  be  dis- 

Pfahlbauten,   1865,   aus    dem    Neujahr.  tinguished  at  a  great  distance  by  the 

Naturforsc.  Gesellschaft,'  18G6 ;  and  Dr.  bright  green  tint  of  the  native  vegeta- 

H.  Christ,   in  Rutimeyer's   '  Die  Fauna  tion. 
der  Pfahlbauten,'  18CI ,  9.  226. 


374  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS,  Chap.  IX. 

old  savage ;  and  he  would  transplant  it,  or  sow  its  seed. 
That  superior  varieties  of  wild  fruit-trees  occasionally  are 
found  is  certain,  as  in  the  case  of  the  American  species  of 
hawthorns,  plums,  cherries,  grapes,  and  hickories,  specified 
by  Professor  Asa  Gray.11  Downing  also  refers  to  certain 
wild  varieties  of  the  hickory,  as  being  "  of  much  larger 
size  and  finer  flavour  than  the  common  species."  I  have 
referred  to  American  fruit-trees,  because  we  are  not 
in  this  case  troubled  with  doubts  whether  or  not  the 
varieties  are  seedlings  which  have  escaped  from  cultiva- 
tion. Transplanting  any  superior  variety,  or  sowing  its 
seeds,  hardly  implies  more  forethought  than  might  be 
expected  at  an  early  and  rude  period  of  civilisation. 
Even  the  Australian  barbarians  "  have  a  law  that  no  plant 
bearing  seeds  is  to  be  dug  up  after  it  has  flowered ;"  and 
Sir  G.  Grey 12  never  saw  this  law,  evidently  framed  for 
the  preservation  of  the  plant,  violated.  We  see  the  same 
spirit  in  the  superstitious  belief  of  the  Fuegians,  that  kill- 
ing water-fowl  whilst  very  young  will  be  followed  by 
"  much  rain,  snow,  blow  much." 13  I  may  add,  as  show- 
ing forethought  in  the  lowest  barbarians,  that  the  Fuegians 
when  they  find  a  stranded  whale  bury  large  portions  in 
the  sand,  and  during  the  often-recurrent  famines  travel 
from  great  distances  for  the  remnants  of  the  half-putrid 
mass. 

It  has  often  been  remarked  14  that  we  do  not  owe  a 
single  useful  plant  to  Australia  or  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope, — countries  abounding  to  an  unparalleled  degree 
with  endemic  species, — or  to  New  Zealand,  or  to  America 
south  of  the  Plata ;  and,  according  to  some  authors,  not 
to  America  northwai'd  of  Mexico.  I  do  not  believe  that 
any  edible  or  valuable  plant,  except  the  canary-grass,  has 


11  '  American  Acad,  of  Arts  and  Scien-  13  Darwin's  'Journal  of  Researches,* 
ces,'  April  10th,  1860,  p.  413.    Downing,  1845,  p.  215. 

4  The  Fruits  of  America,1 1845,  p.  261.  "  De  Candolle  has  tabulated  the  facts 

12  'Journals  of  Expeditions  in  Aus-  in  the  most  interesting  manner  in   his 
tralia,'  1S41,  vol.  ii.  p.  292.  *  Geographic  Bot.,'  p.  986. 


Chap.  IX.  ON    CULTIVATED    PLANTS.  375 

been  derived  from  an  oceanic  or  uninhabited  island.  If 
nearly  all  our  useful  plants,  natives  of  Europe,  Asia,  and 
South  America,  had  originally  existed  in  their  present 
condition,  the,  complete  absence  of  similarly  useful  plants 
in  the  great  countries  just  named  Avould  indeed  be  a  sur- 
prising fact.  But  if  these  plants  have  been  so  greatly 
modified  and  improved  by  culture  as  no  longer  closely  to 
resemble  any  natural  species,  we  can  understand  why  the 
above-named  countries  have  given  us  no  useful  plants,  for 
they  were  either  inhabited  by  men  who  did  not  cultivate 
the  ground  at  all,  as  in  Australia  and  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  or  who  cultivated  it  very  imperfectly,  as  in  some 
parts  of  America.  These  countries  do  yield  plants  which 
are  useful  to  savage  man ;  and  Dr.  Hooker15  enumerates 
no  less  than  107  such  species  in  Australia  alone  ;  but 
these  plants  have  not  been  improved,  and  consequently 
cannot  compete  with  those  which  have  been  cultivated 
and  improved  during  thousands  of  years  in  the  civilised 
world. 

The  case  of  New  Zealand,  to  which  fine  island  Ave  as 
yet  owe  no  widely  cultivated  plant,  may  seem  opposed  to 
this  view ;  for,  when  first  discovered,  the  natives  cultiva- 
ted several  plants;  but  all  inquirers  believe,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  traditions  of  the  natives,  that  the  early 
Polynesian  colonists  brought  with  them  seeds  and  roots, 
as  well  as  the  dog,  which  had  all  been  wisely  preserved 
during  their  long  voyage.  The  Polynesians  are  so  fre- 
quently lost  on  the  ocean,  that  this  degree  of  prudence 
would  occur  to  any  wandering  party :  hence  the  early 
colonists  of  New  Zealand,  like  the  later  European  colo- 
nists, would  not  have  had  any  strong  inducement  to  cul- 
tivate the  aboriginal  plants.  According  to  De  Candolle 
we  owe  thirty-three  useful  plants  to  Mexico,  Peru,  and 
Chile  ;  nor  is  this  surprising  when  we  remember  the  civil- 
ized state  of  the  inhabitants,  as  shown  by  the  fact  of  their 


15  '  Flora  of  Australia,'  Introduction  p.  ex. 


376  CEREAL    PLANTS.  Chap.  IX. 

having  practised  artificial  irrigation  and  made  tunnels 
through  hard  rocks  without  the  use  of  iron  or  gunpow- 
der, and  who,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  future  chapter,  fully 
recognised,  as  far  as  animals  were  concerned,  and  there- 
fore probably  in  the  case  of  plants,  the  important  princi- 
ple of  selection.  We  owe  some  plants  to  Brazil ;  and  the 
early  voyagers,  namely  Vespucius  and  Cabral,  describe 
the  country  as  thickly  peopled  and  cultivated.  In  North 
America16  the  natives  cultivated  maize,  pumpkins,  gourds, 
beans,  and  peas,  "  all  different  from  ours,"  and  tobacco : 
and  we  are  hardly  justified  in  assuming  that  none  of  our 
present  plants  are  descended  from  these  North  American 
forms.  Had  North  America  been  civilized  for  as  long  a 
period,  and  as  thickly  peopled,  as  Asia  or  Europe,  it  is 
probable  that  the  native  vines,  walnuts,  mulberries,  crabs, 
and  plums,  would  have  given  rise,  after  a  long  course  of 
cultivation,  to  a  multitude  of  varieties,  some  extremely 
different  from  their  parent-stocks  ;  and  escaped  seedlings 
would  have  caused  in  the  New,  as  in  the  Old  World, 
much  perplexity  with  respect  to  their  specific  distinctness 
and  parentage.17 

Ccrealia.—I  will  now  enter  on  details.  The  cereals  cultivated  in 
Europe  consist  of  four  genera — wheat,  rye,  barley,  and  oats.  Of 
wheat  the  best  modern  authorities 18  make  four  or  five,  or  even  seven 
distinct  species ;  of  rye,  one ;  of  barley,  three ;  and  of  oats,  two, 
three,  or  four  species.  So  that  altogether  our  cereals  are  ranked  by 
different  authors  under  from  ten  to  fifteen  distinct  species.     These 


16  For  Canada,  see  3.  Cartier's  Voyage  17  See,  for  example,   Mr.   Ilewett  C 

in  1534;   for  Florida,  see  Narvaez  and  Watson's  remarks  on  our  wild  plums  and 

Ferdinand  de  Soto's  Voyages.    As  I  have  cherries  and  crabs  :  '  Cybele  liritannica,' 

consulted  these  and  other  old  Voyages  vol.  i.  pp.  330,  334,  &c.    Van  Mons  (in 

in  more  than  one  general  collection  of  his  'Arbres  Fruitiers,'  1S35,  torn.  i.  p.  444) 

Voyages,  I  do  not  give  precise  references  declares  that  he  has  found  the  types  of 

to  the  pages.    See  also,  for  several  refer-  all  our  cultivated  varieties  in  wild  seed- 

ehces,  Asa  Gray,  in  the  'American  Jour-  lings,  but  then  he  looks  on  these  seed- 

nal  of  Science,'  vol.  xxiv.,  Nov.  1S57,  p.  lings  as  so  many  aboriginal  stocks. 

441.    For  the  traditions  of  the  natives  of  18  See  A.  De  Candolle,    '  Gcograph. 

New  Zealand,  see  Crawfurd's  'Grammar  Bot.,'  1855,  p.  928  et  seq.    Godron,  'De 

and  Diet,  of  the  Malay  Language,'  1S52,  l'Espece,'  1359,  torn.  ii.  p.  70 ;  and  Metz- 

p.  eclx.  ger, '  Die  Getreidearten,'  4c,  1841. 


Chap.  IX.  WHEAT.  377 

have  given  rise  to  a  multitude  of  varieties.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  botanists  are  not  universally  agreed  on  the  aboriginal  parent- 
form  of  any  one  cereal  plant.  For  instance,  a  high  authority  writes 
in  liDo,10  "  We  ourselves  have  no  hesitation  in  stating  our  convic- 
tion, as  the  result  of  all  the  most  reliable  evidence,  that  none  of 
these  Cerealia  exist,  or  have  existed,  truly  wild  in  their  present  state, 
but  that  all  are  cultivated  varieties  of  species  now  growing  in  great 
abundance  in  S.  Europe  or  W.  Asia."  On  the  other  hand,  Alph.  De 
Candolle 20  has  adduced  abundant  evidence  that  common  wheat  ( Tri- 
ticum  vulgare)  has  been  found  wild  in  various  parts  of  Asia,  where 
it  is  not  likely  to  have  escaped  from  cultivation  ;  and  there  is  force 
in  M .  Godron's  remark,  that,  supposing  these  plants  to  be  escaped 
seedlings,"1  if  they  have  propagated  themselves  in  a  wild  state  for 
several  generations,  their  continued  resemblance  to  cultivated  wheat 
renders  it  probable  that  the  latter  has  retained  its  aboriginal  cha- 
racter. M.  de  Candolle  insists  strongly  on  the  frequent  occurrence 
in  the  Austrian  dominions  of  rye  and  of  one  kind  of  oats  in  an  ap- 
parently wild  condition.  With  the  exception  of  these  two  cases, 
which  however  are  rather  doubtful,  and  with  the  exception  of  two 
forms  of  wheat  and  one  of  barley,  which  he  believes  to  have  been 
found  truly  wild,  M.  de  Candolle  does  not  seem  fully  satisfied  with 
the  other  reported  discoveries  of  the  parent-forms  of  our  other  ce- 
reals. With  respect  to  oats,  according  to  Mr.  Buckman,22  the  wild 
English  Arena  fatua  can  be  converted  by  a  few  years  of  careful  cul- 
tivation and  selection  into  forms  almost  identical  with  two  very  dis- 
tinct cultivated  races.  The  whole  subject  of  the  origin  and  specific 
distinctness  of  the  various  cereal  plants  is  a  most  difficult  one  ;  but 
we  Shall  perhaps  be  able  to  judge  a  little  better  after  considering 
the  amount  of  variation  which  wheat  has  undergone. 

Metzger  describes  seven  species  of  wheat,  Godron  refers  to  five, 
and  De  Candolle  to  only  four.  It  is  not  improbable  that,  besides  the 
kinds  known  in  Europe,  other  strongly  characterised  forms  exist  in 

•  

19  Mr.  Bentham,  in  bis  review,  entitled  but  M.  Godron  (torn.  i.  p.  165)  has  shown 

'  Ilist.   Notes  on  cultivated   Plants,'   by  by  careful  experiments  that  the  first  step 

Dr.  A.  Targioni-Tozzetti,  in  'Journal  of  in  the  series,  viz.  JEgilops  triticoides, 

Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  ix.  (1S55),  p.  133.  is  a  hybrid  between  wheat  and  JE.  ovata. 

-°  '  Geograph.  Bot.,'  p.  92S.  The  whole  The  frequency  .with  which  these  hybrids 

subject  is  discussed  with  admirable  full-  spontaneously  arise,   and    the    gradual 

ness  and  knowledge.  manner  in  which  the.^.  triticoides,  be- 

21  Godron, '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  il.  p.  72.  comes  converted  into  true  wheat,  alone 

A  few  years  ago  the  excellent,  though  leave  any  doubt  on  the  subject, 
misinterpreted,  observations  of  If.  Fabre  M  Report  to   British  Association  for 

led  many  persons  to  believe  that  wheat  185T,  p.  207. 
was  a  modified  descendant  of  iEgilops  ; 


378  CEREAL    PLANTS.  Chap.  IX. 

the  more  distant  parts  of  the  world  ;  for  Loiseleur-Deslongchamps  "3 
speaks  of  three  new  species  or  varieties,  sent  to  Europe  in  1822  from 
Chinese  Mongolia,  which  he  considers  as  being  there  indigenous. 
Moorcroft 24  also  speaks  of  Hasora  wheat  in  Ladakh  as  very  peculiar. 
If  those  botanists  are  right  who  believe  that  at  least  seven  species 
of  wheat  originally  existed,  then  the  amount  of  variation  in  any  im- 
portant character  which  wheat  has  undergone  under  cultivation  has 
been  slight ;  but  if  only  four  or  a  lesser  number  of  species  originally 
existed,  then  it  is  evident  that  varieties  so  strongly  marked  have 
arisen,  that  they  have  been  considered  by  capable  judges  as  specifi- 
cally distinct.  But  the  impossibility  of  deciding  which  forms  ought 
to  be  ranked  as  species  and  which  as  varieties,  makes  it  useless  to 
specify  in  detail  the  differences  between  the  various  kinds  of  wheat. 
Speaking  generally,  the  organs  of  vegetation  differ  little ; 25  but  some 
kinds  grow  close  and  upright,  whilst  others  spread  and  trail  along 
the  ground.  The  straw  differs  in  being  more  or  less  hollow,  and  in 
quality.  The  ears 2e  differ  in  colour  and  in  shape,  being  quadrangu- 
lar, compressed,  or  nearly  cylindrical ;  and  the  florets  differ  in  their 
approximation  to  each  other,  in  their  pubescence,  and  in  being  more 
or  less  elongated.  The  presence  or  absence  of  barbs  is  a  conspicuous 
difference,  and  in  certain  Graminese  serves  even  as  a  generic  cha- 
racter ; "  although,  as  remarked  by  Godron,28  the  presence  of  barbs 
is  variable  in  certain  wild  grasses,  and  especially  in  those,  such  as 
Bromus  secalimis  and  Lolium  temulentum,  which  habitually  grow 
mingled  with  our  cereal  crops,  and  which  have  thus  unintentionally 
been  exposed  to  culture.  The  grains  differ  in  size,  weight,  and  col- 
our ;  in  being  more  or  less  downy  at  one  end,  in  being  smooth  or 
wrinkled,  in  being  either  nearly  globular,  oval,  or  elongated ;  and 
finally  in  internal  text  are,  being  tender  or  hard,  or  even  almost 
horny,  and  in  the  proportion  of  gluten  which  they  contain. 

Nearly  all  the  races  or  species  of  wheat  vary,  as  Godron 29  has  re- 
marked, in  an  exactly  parallel  manner, — in  the  seed  being  downy 
or  glabrous,  and  in  colour, — and  in  the  florets  being  barbed  or  not 
barbed,  &c.  Those  who  believe  that  all  the  kinds  are  descended 
from  a  single  wild  species  may  account  for  this  parallel  variation  by 
the  inheritance  of  a  similar  constitution,  and  a  consequent  tendency 
to  vary  in  the  same  manner ;  and  those  who  believe  in  the  general 
theory  of  descent  with  modification  may  extend  this  view  to  the 
several  species  of  wheat,  if  such  ever  existed  in  a  state  of  nature. 


23  '  Considerations  sur  les  Cereales,'  26  Loiseleur-Deslongchamps,  '  Consid. 
1S42-43,  p.  29.  sur  les  Cereales.'  p.  11. 

24  '  Travels  in   the    Himalayan  Pro-  27  See  an  excellent  review  in  Hooker's 
vinces,'  Ac,  1S41,  vol.  i.  p.  224.  '  Journ.  of  Botany,'  vol.  viii.  p.  82,  note. 

85  Col.  J.  Le  Couteur  on  the  '  Varieties  28  '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  ii.  p.  73. 

of  Wheat,'  pp.  23,  79.  29  Idem.  torn.  ii.  p.  75. 


ClIAP.    IX. 


wheat.  379 


Although  few  of  the  varieties  of  wheat  present  any  conspicuous 
difference,  their  number  is  great,  Dalbret  cultivated  during  thirty 
years  from  150  to  160  kinds,  and  excepting  in  the  quality  of  the 
grain  they  all  kept  true :  Colonel  Le  Couteur  possessed  upwards  of 
150,  and  Philippar  322  varieties.30  As  wheat  is  an  annual,  we  thus 
see  how  strictly  many  trifling  differences  in  character  are  inherited 
through  many  generations.  Colonel  Le  Couteur  insists  strongly  on 
this  same  fact :  in  his  persevering  and  successful  attempts  to  raise 
new  varieties  by  selection,  he  began  by  choosing  the  best  ears,  but 
soon  found  that  the  grains  in  the  same  ear  differed  so  that  he  was 
compelled  to  select  them  separately  ;  and  each  grain  generally  trans- 
mitted its  own  character.  The  great  amount  of  variability  in  the 
plants  of  the  same  variety  is  another  interesting  point,  which  would 
never  have  been  detected  except  by  an  eye  long  practised  to  the 
work  ;  thus  Colonel  Le  Couteur  relates 31  that  in  a  field  of  his  own 
wheat,  which  he  considered  at  least  as  pure  as  that  of  any  of  hia 
neighbours,  Professor  La  Gasca  found  twenty-three  sorts ;  and  Pro- 
fessor Henslow  has  observed  similar  facts.  Besides  such  individual 
variations,  forms  sufficiently  well  marked  to  be  valued  and  to  become 
widely  cultivated  sometimes  suddenly  appear  :  thus  Mr.  Sheriff  has 
had  the  good  fortune  to  raise  in  his  lifetime  seven  new  varieties, 
which  are  now  extensively  grown  in  many  parts  of  Britain. 3- 

As  in  the  case  of  many  other  plants,  some  varieties,  both  old  and 
new,  are  far  more  constant  in  character  than  others.  Colonel  Le 
Couteur  was  forced  to  reject  some  of  his  new  sub-varieties,  which  he 
suspected  had  been  produced  from  a  cross,  as  incorrigibly  sportive. 
With  respect  to  the  tendency  to  vary,  Metzger 33  gives  from  Iris  own 
experience  some*  interesting  facts :  he  describes  three  Spanish  sub- 
varieties,  more  especially  one  known  to  be  constant  in  Spain,  which 
in  Germany  assumed  their  proper  character  only  during  hot  sum- 
mers ;  another  variety  kept  true  only  in  good  land,  but  after  having 
been  cultivated  for  twenty-five  years  became  more  constant.  He 
mentions  two  other  sub-varieties  which  were  at  first  inconstant,  but 
subsequently  became,  apparently  without  any  selection,  accustomed 
to  their  new  homes,  and  retained  their  proper  character.  These 
facts  show  what  small  changes  in  the  conditions  of  life  cause  varia- 


3(1  For    Dalbret    and    Philippar,    see  "  in  every  field  of  corn  there  is  as  much 

Loiseleur-Deslongchamps,   '  Consid.   sur  variety  as  in  a  herd  of  cattle." 

les  Cereales,'  pp.  45,  70.    Le  Couteur  on  3a  '  Gardener's   Chron.  and  Agricult. 

Wheat,  p.  G.  Gazette,'  1S62,  p.  963. 

31  '  Varieties  of  Wheat,'  Introduction,  33  '  Getreidearten,'  1311,  s.  66,  91,  92, 

p.  vi.     Marshall,  in  his  '  Rural  Economy  116,  117. 
of  Yorkshire,'  vol.  ii.  p.  9,  remarks  that 


380  CEREAL    PLANTS.  Chap.  IX. 

bility,  and  they  further  show  that  a  variety  may  become  habituated 
to  new  conditions.  One  is  at  first  inclined  to  conclude  with  Loise- 
leur-Deslongchamps, that  wheat  cultivated  in  the  same  country  is 
exposed  to  remarkably  uniform  conditions  ;  but  manures  differ,  seed 
is  taken  from  one  soil  to  another,  and  what  is  far  more  important 
the  plants  are  exposed  as  little  as  possible  to  struggle  with  other 
plants,  and  are  thus  enabled  to  exist  under  diversified  conditions. 
In  a  state  of  nature  each  plant  is  confined  to  that  particular  station 
and  kind  of  nutriment  which  it  can  seize  from  the  other  plants  by 
which  it  is  surrounded. 

Wheat  quickly  assumes  new  habits  of  life.  The  summer  and 
winter  kinds  were  classed  by  Linnaeus  as  distinct  species ;  but  M. 
Monnier 34  has  proved  that  the  difference  between  them  is  only  tem- 
porary. He  sowed  winter-wheat  in  spring,  and  out  of  one  hundred 
plants  four  alone  produced  ripe  seeds  ;  these  were  sown  and  resown, 
and  in  three  years  plants  were  reared  which  ripened  all  their  seed. 
Conversely,  nearly  all  the  plants  raised  from  summer-wheat,  which 
was  sown  in  autumn,  perished  from  frost ;  but  a  few  were  saved 
and  produced  seed,  and  in  three  years  this  summer-variety  was  con- 
verted into  a  winter-variety.  Hence  it  is  not  surprising  that  wheat 
soon  becomes  to  a  certain  extent  acclimatised,  and  that  seed  brought 
from  distant  countries  and  sown  in  Europe  vegetates  at  first,  or  even 
for  a  considerable  period,35  differently  from  our  European  varieties. 
In  Canada  the  first  settlers,  according  to  Kalm,36  found  their  winters 
too  severe  for  winter- wheat  brought  from  France,  and  their  summers 
often  too  short  for  summer- wheat ;  and  until  they  procured  summer- 
wheat  from  the  northern  parts  of  Europe,  which  succeeded  well, 
they  thought  that  their  country  was  useless  for  corn  crops.  It  is 
notorious  that  the  proportion  of  gluten  differs  much  under  different 
climates.  The  weight  of  the  grain  is  also  quickly  affected  by  cli- 
mate :  Loiseleur-Deslongchamps 37  sowed  near  Paris  54  varieties, 
obtained  from  the  South  of  France  and  from  the  Black  Sea,  and  52 
of  these  yielded  seed  from  10  to  40  per  cent,  heavier  than  the  parent- 
seed.  He  then  sent  these  heavier  grains  back  to  the  South  of 
France,  but  there  they  immediately  yielded  lighter  seed. 

All  those  who  have  closely  attended  to  the  subject  insist  on  the 
close  adaptation  of  numerous  varieties  of  wheat  to  various  soils  and 
climates  even  within  the  same  country  ;  thus  Colonel  Le  Couteur 38 


34  Quoted  by  Godron,  '  De  l'Espece,'  Many  others  accounts  could  be  added, 

vol.  ii.   p.  74.     So  it  is,   according  to  36  'Travels  in  North  America,'  1753- 

Metzger  (' Getreidearten,'   s.  IS),    with  1761,  Eng.  translat.,  vol.  iii.  p.  165. 

summer  and  winter  barley.  37  '  Cereales,'  part.  ii.  pp.  17SM8'5. 

30  Loiseleur-Deslongchamps,     '  Cere-  38  '  On  the  Varieties  of  Wheat,'  Intro- 
ales,' part  ii,  p.  224.    Le  Couteur,  p.  70.  duct.,   p.    vii.     See   Marshall,    'Rural 


Chap.  IX.  WHEAT.  381 

Bays,  "  It  is  the  suitableness  of  each  sort  to  each  soil  that  will  enable 
the  farmer  to  pay  his  rent  by  sowing  one  variety,  where  he  would 
*  be  unable  to  do  so  by  attempting  to  grow  another  of  a  seemingly 
better  sort."  This  may  bo  in  part  due  to  each  kind  becoming  habi- 
tuated to  its  conditions  of  life,  as  Metzger  has  shown  certainly  oc- 
curs, but  it  is  probably,  in  main  part  due  to  innate  differences  be- 
tween the  several  varieties. 

Much  has  been  written  on  the  deterioration  of  wheat ;  that  the  qua- 
lity of  the  flour,  size  of  grain,  time  of  flowering,  and  hardiness  may 
be  modified  by  climate  and  soil,  seems  nearly  certain  ;  but  that  the 
whole  body  of  any  one  sub-variety  ever  becomes  changed  into  an- 
other and  distinct  sub-variety,  there  is  no  reason  to  believe.  What 
apparently  does  take  place,  according  Le  Couteur,39  is,  that  some 
one  sub-variety  out  of  the  many  which  may  always  be  detected  in 
the  same  field  is  more  prolific  than  the  others,  and  gradually  sup- 
plants the  variety  which  was  first  sown. 

With  respect  to  the  natural  crossing  of  distinct  varieties  the  evi- 
dence is  conflicting,  but  preponderates  against  its  frequent  occur- 
ence. Many  authors  maintain  that  impregnation  takes  place  in  the 
closed  flower,  but  I  am  sure  from  my  own  observations  that  this  is 
not  the  case,  at  least  with"  those  varieties  to  which  I  have  attended. 
But  as  I  shall  have  to  discuss  this  subject  in  another  work,  it  may 
be  here  passed  over. 

In  conclusion,  all  authors  admit  that  numerous  varie- 
ties of  wheat  have  arisen  ;  but  their  differences  are  unim- 
portant, unless,  indeed,  some  of  the  so-called  species  are 
ranked  as  varieties.  Those  who  believe  that  from  four  to 
seven  wild  species  of  Triticum  originally  existed  in  nearly 
the  same  condition  as  at  present,  rest  their  belief  chiefly 
on  the  great  antiquity  of  the  several  forms.'10  It  is  an 
important  fact,  which  Ave  have  recently  learnt  from  the 
admirable  researches  of  Heer,41  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Switzerland,  even  so  early  as  the  Neolithic  pei-iod,  culti- 


Econ.  of  Yorkshire,'  vol.  ii.  p.  9.      With  cult.  Gazette,'    1862,  p.  963),   says,   "I 

respect  to  similar  cases  of  adaptation  in  have  never  seen  grain  which  has  either 

tbe  varieties  of  oats,  see  some  interesting  been  improved   or  degenerated  by  cul- 

papers  in  the    '  Gardener's  Cliron.  and  tivation,  so  as  to  convey  the  change  to 

Agricult.  Ga-zette,'  1S50,  pp.  204,  219.  the  succeeding  crop." 

99  '  On  the  Varieties  of  Wheat,'   p.  59.  *°  Alph.    De    Candolle,     '  Geograph. 

Mr.  Sheriff,  and  a  higher  authority  can-  Bot.,'  p.  930. 
not  be  given  ('  Gard.  Chron.  and  Agri-  *•  '  Pflanzen  der  Pfahlbauten,'  1866. 


382  CEKEAL    PLANTS.  Chap.  IX. 

vated  no  less  than  ten  cereal  plants,  namely,  five  kinds  of 
wheat,  of  which  .at  least  four  are  commonly  looked  at  as 
distinct  sjiecies,  three  kinds  of  barley,  a  panicum,  and  a 
setaria.  If  it  could  t>e  shown  that  at  the  earliest  dawn 
of  agriculture  five  kinds  of  wheat  and  three  of  barley  had 
been  cultivated,  we  should  of  course  be  compelled  to  look 
at  these  forms  as  distinct  species.  But,  as  Heer  has  re- 
marked, agriculture  even  at  the  period  of  the  lake-habita- 
tions had  already  made  considerable  progress ;  for,  be- 
sides the  ten  cerejals,  peas,  poppies,  flax,  and  apparently 
apples,  were  cultivated.  It  may  also  be  inferred,  from 
one  variety  of  wheat  being  the  so-called  Egyptian,  and 
from  what  is  known  of  the  native  country  "of  the  panicum 
and  setaria,  as  well  as  from  the  nature  of  the  weeds  which 
then  grew  mingled  with  the  crops,  that  the  lake-inhabi- 
tants either  still  kept  up  commercial  intercourse  with 
some  southern  people  or  had  originally  proceeded  as  co- 
lonists from  the  South. 

Loiseleur-Deslongchamps  "  has  argued  that,  if  our  ce- 
real plants  had  been  greatly  modified  by  cultivation,  the 
weeds  which  habitually  grow  mingled  with  them  would 
have  been  equally  modified.  But  this  argument  shows 
how  completely  the  principle  of  selection  has  been  over- 
looked. That  such  weeds  have  not  varied,  or  at  least  do 
not  vary  now  in  any  extreme  degree,  is  the  opinion  of 
Mr.  H.  C.  Watson  and  Professor  Asa  Gray,  as  they  inform 
me ;  but  who  will  pretend  to  say  that  they  do  not  vary  as 
much  as  the  individual  plants  of  the  same  sub-variety  of 
wheat  ?  We  have  already  seen  that  pure  varieties  of 
wheat,  cultivated  in  the  same  field,  offer  many  slight  va- 
riations, which  can  be  selected  and  separately  propaga- 
ted ;  and  that  occasionally  more  strongly  pronounced  va- 
riations appear,  which,  as  Mr.  Sheriff  has  proved,  are  well 
worthy  of  extensive  cultivation.  Not  until  equal  atten- 
tion be  paid  to  the  variability  and  selection  of  weeds,  can 


43  '  Les  Cereales,'  p.  94. 


Chip.  IX.  WHEAT.  383 

the  argument  from  their  constancy  under  unintentional 
culture  be  of  any  value.  In  accordance  with  the  princi- 
ples of  selection  we  can  understand  how  it  is  that  in  the 
several  cultivated  varieties  of  wheat  the  organs  of  vege- 
tatiou  differ  so  little ;  for  if  a  plant  with  peculiar  leaves 
appeared,  it  would  he  neglected  unless  the  grains  of  corn 
were  at  the  same  time  superior  in  quality  or  size.  The 
selection  of  seed-corn  was  strongly  recommended "  in 
ancient  times  by  Columella  and  Celsus ;    and  as  Virgil 

says,— 

"  I've  seen  the  largest  seeds,  tho'  view'd  with  care, 
Degenerate,  unless  th'  industrious  hand 
Did  yearly  cull  the  largest." 

But  whether  in  ancient  times  selection  was  methodically 
pursued  we  may  Avell  doubt,  wdien  Ave  hear  how  labori- 
ous the  work  was  found  by  Le  Couteur.  Although  the 
principle  of  selection  is  so  important,  yet  the  little  which 
man  has  effected,  by  incessant  efforts  44  during  thousands 
of  years,  in  rendering  the  plants  more  productive  or  the 
grains  more  nutritious  than  they  were  in  the  time  of  the 
old  Egyptians,  would  seem  to  speak  strongly  against  its 
efficacy.  But  we  must  not  forget  that  at  each  successive 
period  the  state  of  agriculture  and  the  quantity  of  manure 
supplied  to  the  land  will  have  determined  the  maximum 
degree  of  productiveness  ;  for  it  would  be  impossible  to 
cultivate  a  highly  productive  variety,  unless  the  land  con- 
tained a  sufficient  supply  of  the  necessary  chemical  ele- 
ments. 

We  now  know  that  man  was  sufficiently  civilized  to 
cultivate  the  ground  at  an  immensely  remote  period  ;  so 
that  wheat  might  have  been  improved  long  ago  up  to 
that  standard  of  excellence  which  was  possible  under  the 
then  existing  state  of  agriculture.  One  small  class  of 
facts  supports  this  view  of  the  slow  and  gradual  improve- 
ments of  our  cereals.     In  the  most  ancient  lake-habita- 


43  Quoted  by  Le  Couteur,  p.  16.  **  A.  De  Candolle,  '  Geogra  ph.  Bot.,'  p. 


384  CEREAL    PLANTS.  *  Chap.  IX. 

tions  of  Switzerland,  when  men  employed  only  flint-tools, 
the  most  extensively  cultivated  wheat  was  a  peculiar  kind, 
with  remarkably  small  ears  and  grains.45  "  Whilst  the 
grains  of  the  modern  forms  are  in  section  from  seven  to 
eight  millimetres  in  length,  the  larger  grains  from  the 
lake-habitations  are  six,  seldom  seven,  and  the  smaller 
ones  only  four.  The  ear  is  thus  much  narrower,  and  the 
spikelets  stand  out  more  horizontally,  than  in  our  present 
forms."  So  again  with  barley,  the  most  ancient  and 
most  extensively  cultivated  kind  had  small  ears,  and  the 
grains  were  "  smaller,  shorter,  and  nearer  to  each  other, 
than  in  that  now  grown;  without  the  husk  they  were  2$ 
lines  long,  and  scarcely  l£  broad,  whilst  those  now  grown 
have  a  length  of  three  lines,  and  almost  the  same  in 
breadth."  4S  These  small-grained  varieties  of  wheat  and 
barley  are  believed  by  Heer  to  be  the  parent-forms  of 
certain  existing  allied  varieties,  which  have  supplanted 
their  early  progenitors. 

Heer  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  first  appear- 
ance and  final  disappearance  of  the  several  plants  which 
were  cultivated  in  greater  or  Jess  abundance  in  Switzer- 
land during  former  successive  periods,  and  which  gene- 
rally differed  more  or  less  from  our  existing  varieties. 
The  peculiar  small-eared  and  small-grained  wheat,  al- 
ready alluded  to,  was  the  commonest  kind  during  the 
Stone  period ;  it  lasted  down  to  'the  Helvetico-Roman 
age,  and  then  became  extinct.  A  second  kind  was  rare 
at  first,  but  afterwards  became  more  frequent.  A  third, 
the  Egyptian  Avheat  (T.  tiergidum),  does  not  agree  exact- 
ly with  any  existing  variety,  and  was  rare  during  the 
Stone  period.  A  fourth  kind  (T.  dicoccum)  differs  from 
all  known  varieties  of  this  form.  A  fifth  kind  (T.  mono- 
coccwn)  is  known  to  have  existed  during  the  Stone  pe- 


<5  0.  Heer,  '  Die  Pflanzen  der  Pfahl-  1861,  s.  225. 

bauten,'  1S60.     The  following  passage  is  is  Heer,  as  quoted  by  Carl  Vogt,  '  Lec- 

quoted  from  Dr.  Christ,  in  '  Die  Fauna  tures  en  Man,'   Eng.  translV..,  p.   355. 
der  Pfahlbauten  von  Dr.    Rutimeyer,' 


Chap.  IX. 


MAIZE.  385 


riod  only  by  the  presence  of  a  single  ear.  A  sixth  kind, 
the  common  T.  spelia,  was  not  introduced  into  Switzer- 
land until  the  Bronze  age.  Of  barley,  besides  the  short- 
eared  and  small-grained  kind,  two  others  were  cultiva- 
ted, one  of  which  was  very  scarce,  and  resembled  our 
present  common  II.  distichum.  During  the  Bronze  age 
rye  and  oats  were  introduced  ;  the  oat-grains  being  some- 
what smaller  than  those  produced  by  our  existing  varie- 
ties. The  poppy  was  largely  cultivated  during  the  Stone 
period,  probably  for  its  oil ;  but  the  variety  which  then 
existed  is  not  now  known.  A  peculiar  pea  with  small 
seeds  lasted  from  the  Stone  to  the  Bronze  age,  and  then  be- 
came extinct ;  whilst  a  peculiar  bean,  likewise  having 
small  seeds,  came  in  at  the  Bronze  period  and  lasted  to 
the  time  of  the  Romans.  These  details  sound  like  the 
description  given  by  a  palaeontologist  of  the  mutations  in 
form,  of  the  first  appearance,  the  increasing  rarity,  and 
final  extinction  of  fossil  species,  embedded  in  the  succes- 
sive stages  of  a  geological  formation. 

Finally,  every  one  must  judge  for  himself  whether  it  is 
more  probable  that  the  several  forms  of  wheat,  barley, 
rye,  and  oats  are  descended  from  between  ten  and  fifteen 
species,  most  of  which  are  now  either  unknown  or  extinct, 
or  whether  they  are  descended  from  between  four  and 
eight  species,  which  may  have  either  closely  resembled 
our  present  cultivated  forms,  or  have  been  so  widely  dif- 
ferent as  to  escape  identification.  In  this  latter  case,  we 
must  conclude  that  man  cultivated  the  cereals  at  an 
enormously  remote  period,  and  that  he  formerly  practised 
some  degree  of  selection,  which  in  itself  is  not  improbable. 
We  may,  perhaps,  further  believe  that,  when  wheat  was 
first  cultivated,  the  ears  and  grains  increased  quickly  i.i 
size,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  roots  of  the  wild  carrot 
and  parsnip  are  known  to  increase  quickly  in  bulk  under 
cultivation. 

Maize:  Zea  Mays. — Botanists  are  nearly  unanimous  that  all  the 
17 


386  CEREAL    PLANTS.  Chap.  IX. 

cultivated  kinds  belong  to  the  same  species.  It  is  undoubtedly 47  of 
American  origin,  and  was  grown  by  the  aborigines  throughout  the 
continent  from  New  England  to  Chili.  Its  cultivation  must  have 
been  extremely  ancient,  for  Tschudi'18  describes  two  kinds,  now  ex- 
tinct or  not  known  in  Peru,  which  were  taken  from  tombs  apparent- 
ly prior  to  the  dynasty  of  the  Incas.  But  there  is  even  stronger  evi- 
dence of  antiquity,  for  I  found  on  the  coast  of  Peru43  heads  of  maize, 
together  with  eighteen  species  of  recent  sea-shell,  embedded  in  a 
beach  which  had  been  upraised  at  least  85  feet  above  the  "level  of 
the  sea.  In  accordance  with  this  ancient  cultivation,  numerous 
American  varieties  have  arisen.  The  aboriginal  form  has  not  as  yet 
been  discovered  in  the  wild  state.  A  peculiar  kind,50  in  which  the 
grains,  instead  of  being  naked,  are  concealed  by  husks  as  much  as 
eleven  lines  in  length,  has  been  stated  on  insufficient  evidence  to 
grow  wild  in  Brazil.  It  is  almost  certain  that  the  aboriginal  form 
would  have  had  its  grains  thus  protected ; 51  but  the  seeds  of  the 
Brazilian  variety  produce,  as  I  hear  from  Professor  Asa  Gray,  and 
as  is  stated  in  two  published  accounts,  either  common  or  husked 
maize  ;  and  it  is  not  credible  that  a  wild  species,  when  first  cultiva- 
ted, should  vary  so  quickly  and  in  so  great  a  degree. 

Maize  has  varied  in  an  extraordinary  and  conspicuous  manner. 
Metzger,52  who  paid  particular  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  this 
plant,  makes  twelve  races  (unter-art)  with  numerous  sub-varieties  ; 
of  the  latter  some  are  tolerably  constant,  others  quite  inconstant. 
The  different  races  vary  in  height  from  15-18  feet  to  only  16-18 
inches,  as  in  a  dwarf  variety  described  by  Bonafous.  The  whole 
ear  is  variable  in  shape,  being  long  and  narrow,  or  short  and  thick, 
or  branched.  The  ear  in  one  variety  is  more  than  four  times  as 
long  as  in  a  dwarf  kind.  The  seeds  are  arranged  in  the  ear  in 
from  six  to  even  twenty  rows,  or  are  placed  irregularly.     The  seeds 


47  See  Alph.  De  Candolle's  long  dis-  on  seeing  this  kind  of  maize,  told  Au- 
cussion  in  his  '  Geograph.  Bot.,'  p.  042.  guste  St.  Hilaire  (see  De  Candolle,  'G6o- 
With  respect  to  New  England,  see  Silli-  graph.  Bot.,'  p.  951)  that  it  grew  wild  in 
man's 'American  Journal,'  vol.  xliv.  p.  the  humid  forests  of  his  native  land.  Mr. 
99.  Teschemacher,   in   '  Proc.    Boston    Soc. 

48  'Travels  in  Peru,' Eng.  translat.,  Nat.  Hist  ,' Oct.  19th,  1S42,  gives  an  ac- 
p.  177.  count  of  sowing  the  seed. 

49  '  Geolog.  Observ.  on  S.  America,'  51  Moquin-Tandon,  '  Elements  de  Te- 
1846,  p.  49.  ratologie,'  1841,  p.  126. 

60  This  maize  is  figured  in  Bonafous'  52  'Die  Getreirtearten,'   1841,   s.    20S. 

magnificent  work,  'Hist.  Nat.  du  Mais,'  I  have  modified  a  few  of  Metzger's  state- 

1S3(J,  Pi.  v.  bis,  and  in  the  'Journal  of  ments  in  accordance  with  those  made  by 

Hort.  Soc.,'  vol    i.,  1S46,  p.  115,  where  Bonafous  in  his  great  work,  '  Hist.  Nat. 

an  account  is  given  of  the  result  of  sow-  du  Mai's,'  1S36. 
iug  the  seed.     A  young  Guarany  Indian, 


Chap.  IX.  MAIZE.  387 

are  coloured — white,  pale-yellow,  orange,  red,  violet,  or  elegantly 
streaked  with  black;68  and  iu  the  same  car  there  are  sometimes 
seeds  of  two  colours.  In  a  small  collection  I  found  that  a  single 
grain  of  one  variety  nearly  equalled  in  weight  seven  grains  of 
another  variety.  The  shape  of  the  seed  varies  greatly,  heing  very 
flat,  or  nearly  globular,  or  oval ;  broader  than  long,  or  longer  than 
broad  ;  without  any  point,  or  produced  into  a  sharp  tooth,  and  this 
tooth  is  sometimes  recurved.  One  variety  (the  rugosa  of  Bonafous) 
has  its  seeds  curiously  wrinkled,  giving  to  the  whole  ear  a  singular 
appearance.  Another  variety  (the  cymosa  of  Bon.)  carries  its  ears 
so  crowded  together  that  it  is  called  mats  d  bouquet.  The  seeds  of 
some  varieties  contain  much  glucose  instead  of  starch.  Male 
flowers  sometimes  appear  amongst  the  female  flowers,  and  Mr.  J. 
Scott  has  lately  observed  the  rarer  case  of  female  flowers  on  a  true 
male  panicle,  and  likewise  hermaphrodite  flowers. 54  Azara  de- 
scribes M  a  variety  in  Paraguay  the  grains  of  which  are  very  tender, 
and  he  states  that  several  varieties  are  fitted  for  being  cooked  in 
various  ways.  The  varieties  also  differ  greatly  in  precocity,  and 
have  different  powers  of  resisting  dryness  and  the  action  of  violent 
wind.53  Some  of  the  foregoing  differences  would  certainly  be  con- 
sidered of  specific  value  with  plants  in  a  state  of  nature. 

Le  Comte  Re  states  that  the  grains  of  all  the  varieties  which  he 
cultivated  ultimately  assumed  a  yellow  colour.  But  Bonafous  " 
found  that  most  of  those  which  he  sowed  for  ten  consecutive  years 
kept  true  to  their  proper  tints  ;  and  he  adds  that  in  the  valleys  of 
the  Pyrenees  and  on  the  plains  of  Piedmont  a  white  maize  has  been 
cultivated  for  more  than  a  century,  and  has  undergone  no  change. 

The  tall  kinds  grown  in  southern  latitudes,  and  therefore  exposed 
to  great  heat,  require  from  six  to  seven  months  to  ripen  their  seed ; 
whereas  the  dwarf  kinds,  grown  in  northern  and  colder  climates, 
require  only  from  three  to  four  months.58  Peter  Kalm,59  who  par- 
ticularly attended  to  this  plant  says  that  in  the  United  States,  in 
proceeding  from  south  to  north,  the  plants  steadily  diminish  in 
bulk.  Seeds  brought  from  lat.  37°  in  Virginia,  and  sown  in  lat. 
43°-44°  in  New  England,  produce  plants  wdiich  will  not  ripen  their 
seed,  or  ripen  them  with  the  utmost  difficulty.  So  it  is  with  seed 
carried  from  New  England  to  lat.  45°-47°  in  Canada.      By  taking 


53   Godron,  '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  ii.  p.  p.  31. 

80;  Al.  DeCandolle,  idem.  p.  051.  "  Idem,  p.  31. 

64  '  Transact.  Bot.  Soc.  of  Edinburgh,'  68  Metzger,  '  Getreidearter.,'  s.  206. 

vol.  viii.  p.  60.  69  '  Description  of  Maize,'  by  P.  Kalm, 

BS  'Voyages    dans  rAmerique  Muri-  1T52,   in   '  Swedish     Acts,'   vol.    iv.      I 

dionale,'  torn.  i.  p.  147.  haTe  consulted  an  old  English  MS.  trans- 

••  Bonafous'    '  Hist.   Nat.  du  Mala,'  lation.                         . 


388  CEREAL    PLANTS.  Chap.  IX. 

great  care  at  first,  the  southern  kinds  after  some  years'  culture  ripen 
their  seed  perfectly  in  their  northern  homes,  so  that  this  is  an  ana- 
logous case  with  that  of  the  conversion  of  summer  into  winter 
wheat,  and  conversely.  When  tall  and  dwarf  maize  are  planted 
together,  the  dwarf  kinds  are  in  full  flower  before  the  others  have 
produced  a  single  flower ;  and  in  Pennsylvania  they  ripen  their 
seed  six  weeks  earlier  than  the  tall  maize.  Metzger  also  mentions  a 
European  maize  which  ripens  its  seed  four  weeks  earlier  than  another 
European  kind.  With  these  facts,  so  plainly  showing  inherited 
acclimatisation,  we  may  readily  believe  Kalm,  who  states  that  in 
North  America  maize  and  some  other  plants  have  gradually  been 
cultivated  further  and  further  northward.  All  writers  agree  that 
to  keep  the  varieties  of  maize  pure  they  must  be  planted  separately 
so  that  they  shall  not  cross. 

The  effects  of  the  climate  of  Europe  on  the  American  varieties  is 
highly  remarkable.  Metzger  obtained  seed  from  various  parts  of 
America,  and  cultivated  several  kinds  in  Germany.  I  will  give  an 
abstract  of  the  changes  observed 60  in  one  case,  namely,  with  a  tall 
kin  J  (Breit-korniger  mays,  Zea  altissima)  brought  from  the  warmer 
parts  of  America.  During  the  first  year  the  plants  were  twelve 
feet  high,  and  few  seeds  were  perfected ;  the  lower  seeds  in  the  ear 
kept  true  to  their  proper  form,  but  the  upper  seeds  became  slightly 
changed.  In  the  second  generation  the  plants  were  from  nine  to 
ten  feet  in  height,  and  ripened  their  seed  better  ;  the  depression  on 
the  outer  side  of  the  seed  had  almost  disappeared,  and  the  original 
beautiful  white  colour  had  become  duskier.  Some  of  the  seeds  had 
even  become  yellow,  and  in  their  now  rounded  form  they  approached 
common  European  maize.  In  the  third  generation  nearly  all  re- 
semblance to  the  original  and  very  distinct  American  parent-form 
was  lost.  In  the  sixth  generation  tliis  maize  perfectly  resembled  a 
European  variety,  described  as  the  second  sub-variety  of  the  fifth 
race.  When  Metzger  published  his  book,  this  variety  was  still 
cultivated  near  Heidelberg,  and  could  be  distinguished  from  the 
common  kind  only  by  a  somewhat  more  vigorous  growth.  Analo- 
gous results  were  obtained  by  the  cultivation  of  another  American 
race,  the  "  white-tooth  corn,"  in  which  the  tooth  nearly  disappeared 
even  in  the  second  generation.  A  third  race,  the  "  chicken-corn," 
did  not  undergo  so  great  a  change,  but  the  seeds  became  less 
polished  and  pellucid. 

These  facts  afford  the  most  remarkable  instance 
known  to  me  of  the  direct  and  prompt  action  of  climate 


"0  '  Getreulearten,'  s.  20S. 


Cn*?.  ix.         CULINARY    PLANTS  :     CABBAGES.  389 

on  a  plant.  It  might  have  been  expected  that  the  tall- 
ncss  of  the  stem,  the  period  of  the  vegetation,  and  the 
ripening  of  the  seed,  would  have  been  thus  affected;  but 
it  is  a  much  more  surprising  fact  that  the  seeds  should 
have  undergone  so  rapid  and  great  a  change.  As,  how- 
ever, flowers,  with  their  product  the  seed,  are  formed  by 
the  metamorphosis  of  the  stem  and  leaves,  any  modifi- 
cation in  these  latter  organs  would  be  apt  to  extend, 
through  correlation,  to  the  organs  of  fructification. 

Cabbage  (Brassiea  oleracea). — Every  one  knows  how  greatly  the 
various  kinds  of  cabbage  differ  in  appearance.  In  the  island  of  Jer- 
sey, from  the  effects  of  particular  culture  and  of  climate,  a  stalk  has 
grown  to  the  height  of  sixteen  feet,  and  "  had  its  spring  shoots  at 
the  top  occupied  by  a  magpie's  nest :"  the  woody  stems  are  not 
unfrequently  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  in  height,  and  are  there  used 
as  rafters C1  and  as  walking-sticks.  We  are  thus  reminded  that  in 
certain  countries  plants  belonging  to  the  generally  herbaceous  order 
of  the  Cruciferre  are  developed  into  trees.  Every  one  can  appreciate 
the  difference  between  green  or  red  cabbages  with  great  single 
heads ;  Brussel-sprouts  with  numerous  little  heads ;  broeeolis  and 
cauliflowers  with  the  greater  number  of  their  flowers  in  an  aborted 
condition,  incapable  of  producing  seed,  and  borne  in  a  dense  corymb 
instead  of  an  open  panicle  ;  savoys  with  their  blistered  and  wrinkled 
leaves  ;  and  borecoles  and  kales,  which  come  nearest  to  the  wild  pa- 
rent-form. There  are  also  various  frizzled  and  laciniated  kinds, 
some  of  such  beautiful  colours  that  Vilmorin  in  his  Catalogue  of 
1851  enumerates  ten  varieties,  valued  solely  for  ornament,  which 
are  propagated  by  seed.  Some  kinds  are  less  commonly  known, 
such  as  the  Portuguese  Couve  Tronchuda,  with  the  ribs  of  its  leaves 
greatly  thickened  ;  and  the  Kohlrabi  or  choux-raves,  with  their 
stems  enlarged  into  great  turnip-like  masses  above  the  ground  ;  and 
the  recently  formed  new  race 62  of  choux-raves,  already  including 
nine  sub-varieties,  in  which  the  enlarged  part  lies  beneath  the 
ground  like  a  turnip. 

Although  we  see  such  great  differences  in  the  shape,  size,  colour, 
arrangement,  and  manner  of  growth  of  the  leaves  and  stem,  and  of 


91    'Cabbage     Timber,'     'Gardener's  hibited  in  the  Museum  at  Revv. 

Chron.,'  1S58,  |>.  T44.  quoted  from  Hook-  62  'Journal   de  la   Soc.  Imp.  d'Hortt- 

er's   '  Journal   of  Botany,'     A   walking-  culture,'  1855,  p.  254,  quoted  from   '  Gar- 

stick  made  from  a  cabbage-stalk  is  ex-  tenflora,'  Ap.  1S55. 


390  CULINARY    PLANTS.  Chap.  IX. 

the  flower-stems  in  the  broccoli  and  cauliflower,  it  is  remarkable 
that  the  flowers  themselves,  the  seed-pods,  and  seeds,  present  ex- 
tremely slight  differences  or  none  at  all.63  I  compared  the  flowers 
of  all  the  principal  kinds  ;  those  of  the  Couve  Trouchuda  are  white 
and  rather  smaller  than  in  common  cabbages ;  those  of  the  Ports- 
mouth broccoli  have  narrower  sepals,  and  smaller,  less  elongated 
petals ;  and  in  no  other  cabbage  could  any  difference  be  detected. 
With  respect  to  the  seed-pods,  in  the  purple  Kohlrabi  alone,  do  they 
differ,  being  a  little  longer  and  narrower  than  usual.  I  made  a  col- 
lection of  the  seeds  of  twenty -eight  different  kinds,  and  most  of  them 
were  undistinguishable  ;  when  there  was  any  difference  it  was  ex- 
cessively slight ;  thus,  the  seeds  of  various  broccolis  and  cauliflow- 
ers, when  seen  in  mass,  are  a  little  redder ;  those  of  the  early  green 
Ulm  savoy  are  rather  smaller  ;  and  those  of  the  Breda  kail  slightly 
larger  than  usual,  but  not  larger  than  the  seeds  of  the  wild  cabbage 
from  the  coast  of  Wales.  What  a  contrast  in  the  amount  of  differ- 
ence is  presented  if,  on  the  one  hand,  we  compare  the  leaves  and 
stems  of  the  various  kinds  of  cabbage  with  their  flowers,  pods,  and 
seeds,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  corresponding  parts  in  the  varieties 
of  maize  and  wheat !  The  explanation  is  obvious  ;  the  seeds  alone 
are  valued  in  our  cereals,  and  their  variations  have  been  selected  ; 
whereas  the  seeds,  seed-pods,  and  flowers  have  been  utterly  neglect- 
ed in  the  cabbage,  whilst  many  useful  variations  in  their  leaves  and 
stems  have  been  noticed  and  preserved  from  an  extremely  remote 
period,  for  cabbages  were  cultivated  by  the  old  Celts.04 

It  would  be  useless  to  give  a  classified  description 65  of  the  nume- 
rous races,  sub-races,  and  varieties  of  the  cabbage ;  but  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  Dr.  Lindley  has  lately  proposed 6G  a  system  founded 
on  the  state  of  development  of  the  terminal  and  lateral  leaf-buds, 
and  of  the  flower-buds.  Thus,  I.  All  the  leaf-buds  active  and  open, 
as  in  the  wild-cabbage,  kail,  &c.  II.  All  the  leaf-buds  active,  but 
forming  heads,  as  in  Brussel-sprouts,  &c.  III.  Terminal  leaf-bud 
alone  active,  forming  a  head  as  in  common  cabbages,  savoys,  &c. 

IV.  Terminal  leaf-bud  alone  active  and  open,  with  most  of  the 
flowers  abortive  and  succulent,  as  in  the  cauliflower  and  broccoli. 

V.  All  the  leaf-buds  active  and  open,  with  most  of  the  flowers  abor- 
tive and  succulent,  as  in  the  sprouting-broccoli.  This  latter  vari- 
ety is  a  new  one,  and  bears  the  same  relation  to  common  broccoli,  as 


«3  Godron,   '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  ii.  p.  "5    See   the     elder    De    Candolle,    in 

52 ;    Metzger,   '  Syst,    Beschreibung    der  '  Transact,    of  Hort.   Soc.,'  vol.  v.  ;  and 

Kult.  Kohlarten,'  1S33,  s.  6.  Metzger  '  Kohlarten,'  &c. 

64  Iiegnier,  '  De  l'Economie  Publique  60  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1S59,  p.  992. 
des  Celtes,'  1818,  p.  43?. 


Chap.  IX.  CABBAGES.  301 

Brussel-sprouts  do  to  common  cabbages  ;  it  suddenly  appeared  in  a 
bed  of  common  broccoli,  and  was  found  faithfully  to  transmit  its 
newly-acquired  and  remarkable  characters. 

The  principal  kinds  of  cabbage  existed  at  least  as  early  as  the  six- 
teenth century,67  so  that  numerous  modifications  of  structure  have 
been  inherited  for  a  long  period.  This  fact  is  the  more  remarkable 
as  great  care  must  be  taken  to  prevent  the  crossing  of  the  different 
kinds.  To  give  one  proof  of  this  ;  I  raised  233  seedlings  from  cab- 
bages of  different  kinds,  which  had  purposely  been  planted  near  each 
other,  and  of  the  seedlings  no  less  than  155  were  plainly  deteriora- 
ted and  mongrelized  ;  nor  were  the  remaining  78  all  perfectly  true. 
It  may  be  donbted  whether  many  permanent  varieties  have  been 
formed  by  intentional  or  accidental  crosses ;  for  such  crossed  plants 
are  found  to  be  very  inconstant.  One  kind,  however,  called  "  Cot- 
tager's Kale,"  has  lately  been  produced  by  crossing  common  kale 
and  Brussel-sprouts,  recrossed  with  purple  broccoli,68  and  is  said  to 
be  true,  but  plants  raised  by  me  were  not  nearly  so  constant  in 
character  as  any  common  cabbage. 

Although  most  of  the  kinds  keep  true  if  carefully  preserved  from 
crossing,  yet  the  seed-beds  must  be  yearly  examined,  and  a  few 
seedlings  are  generally  found  false  ;  but  even  in  this  case  the 
force  of  inheritance  is  shown,  for,  as  Metzger  has  remarked69 
when  speaking  of  Brussel-sprouts,  the  variations  generally  keep 
to  their  "unter  art,"  or  main  race.  But  in  order  that  any  kind 
may  lie  truly  propagated  there  must  be  no  great  change  in  the 
conditions  of  life ;  thus  cabbages  will  not  form  heads  in  hot  coun- 
tries, and  the  same  thing  has  been  observed  with  an  English 
variety  grown  daring  an  extremely  warm  and  damp  autumn  near 
Paris.10  Extremely  poor  soil  also  affects  the  characters  of  certain 
varieties. 

Most  authors  believe  that  all  the  races  are  descended  from  the 
wild  cabbage  found  on  the  western  shores  of  Europe  ;  but  Alph. 
De  Candolle T1  forcibly  argues  on  historical  and  other  grounds  that 
it  is  more  probable  that  two  or  three  closely  allied  forms,  generally 
ranked  as  distinct  species,  still  living  in  the  Mediterranean  region, 
are  the  parents,  now  all  commingled  together,  of  the  various  culti- 
vated kinds.  In  the  same  manner  as  we  have  often  seen  with  do- 
mesticated animals,  the  supposed  multiple  origin  of  the  cabbage 


67  Alpli.  De  Candolle, '  Geograph.  Bot.,  e'-'  '  KoUarten,'  ?.  22. 

pp.  S42  ami  9-0.  ™  Godron,  '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  ii.  p. 

88  '•  Gardener's  Chron.,'  Feb.  1858,  p.  52;  Metzger,  '  Kohlarten,'  s.  22. 

128.  71   '  Geograph.  Bot.,'  p.  S40. 


392  CULINARY    PLANTS.  Cap.  ix. 

throws  no  light  on  the  characteristic  differences  between  the  cul- 
tivated forms.  If  our  cabbages  are  the  descendants  of  three  or 
four  distinct  species,  every  trace  of  any  sterility  which  may  origi- 
nally have  existed  between  them  is  now  lost,  for  none  of  the  varieties 
can  b<#  kept  distinct  without  scrupulous  care  to  prevent  intercross^ 
ing. 

The  other  cultivated  forms  of  the  genus  Brassica  are  descended, 
according  to  the  view  adopted  by  Godron  and  Metzger,72  from  two 
species,  B.  napas  and  rapa  ;  but  according  to  other  botanists  from 
three  species ;  whilst  others  again  strongly  suspect  that  all  these 
forms,  both  wild  and  cultivated,  ought  to  be  ranked  as  a  single 
species.  Brassica  no  pus  has  given  rise  to  two  large  groups,  name 
]y,  Swedish  turnips  (by  some  believed  to  be  of  hybrid  origin) 73  and 
Colzas,  the  seeds  of  which  yield  oil.  Brassica  rapa  (of  Koch)  has 
also  given  rise  to  two  races,  namely,  common  turnips  and  the  oil 
giving  rape.  The  evidence  is  unusually  clear  that  these  latter 
plants,  though  so  different  in  external  appearance,  belong  to  the 
same  species ;  for  the  turnip  has  been  observed  by  Koch  and  Go- 
dron to  lose  its  thick  roots  in  uncultivated  soil,  and  when  rape  and 
turnips  are  sown  together  they  cross  to  such  a  degree  that  scarcely 
a  single  plant  comes  true.74  Metzger  by  culture  converted  the  bien- 
nial or  winter  rape  into  the  annual  or  summer  rape, — varieties  which 
have  been  thought  by  some  authors  to  be  specifically  distinct.75 

In  the  production  of  large,  fleshy,  turnip-like  stems,  we  have  a 
case  of  analogous  variation  in  three  forms  which  are  generally 
considered  as  distinct  species.  But  scarcely  any  modification  seems 
so  easily  acquired  as  a  succulent  enlargement  of  the  stem  or  root — 
that  is  a  store  of  nutriment  laid  up  for  the  plant's  own  future  use. 
We  see  this  in  our  radishes,  beet,  and  in  the  less  generally  known 
"  turnip-rooted"  celery,  and  in  the  finocchio  or  Italian  variety  of  the 
common  fennel.  Mr.  Buckman  has  lately  proved  by  his  interesting 
experiments  how  quickly  the  roots  of  the  wild  parsnip  can  be  en- 
larged, as  Vilmorin  formerly  proved  in  the  case  of  the  carrot.76 


72  Godron,  '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  ii.  p.  be  valued  equally  with  positive  results. 

54  ;  Metzger,  '  Kohlarten,'  s.  10.  On  the    other    hand,   M.    Carriere    has 

'3  '  Gardener's  Chron.  and  Agricult.  lately  stated   ('  Gard.   Chronicle,'  1S65, 

Gazette  '  1S56  p.  729.  p.  1154)  that  he  took  seed  from  a  wild 

74  '  Gardener's  Chron.  and  Agricult.  carrot,  growing  far  from  any  cultivated 

Gazette  '  1S55,  p.  7-30.  land,  and  even  in  the  first  generation 

76  Metzger,  '  Kohlarten,'  s.  51.  the   roots   of   his   seedlings    differed  in 

76  These  experiments  by  Vilmorin  have  being  spindle-shaped,  longer,  softer  and 

been  quoted  by  many  writers.     An  emi-  less  fibrous  than  those  of  the  wild  plant, 

nent  botanist,  Prof.  Decaisne,  has  lately  From  these  seedlings  he  raised  several 

expressed  doubts  on  the  subject  from  his  distinct  varieties, 
own  negative  results,  but  these  cannot 


Chap.  IX.  PEAS.  303 

This  latter  plant,  in  its  cultivated  state,  differs  in  scarcely  any 
character  from  the  wild  English  species,  except  in  general  luxu- 
riance and  in  the  size  and  quality  of  its  roots ;  hut  in  the  root  ten 
varieties,  differing  in  colour,  shape,  and  quality,  are  cultivated77  in 
England,  and  come  truo  by  seed.  Hence,  with  the  carrot,  as  in  so 
many  other  cases,  for  instance  with  the  numerous  varieties  and 
sub-varieties  of  the  radish,  that  part  of  the  plant  which  is  valued 
by  man,  falsely  appears  alone  to  have  varied.  The  truth  is  that 
variations  in  this  part  alone  have  been  selected;  and  the  seedlings 
inheriting  a  tendency  to  vary  in  the  same  way,  analogous  modifica- 
tions have  been  again  and  again  selected,  until  at  last  a  great  amount 
of  change  has  been  effected. 

Pea  (Pisum  sativum). — Most  botanists  look  at  the  garden-pea  as 
specifically  distinct  from  the  field-pea  (P.  arvense).  The  latter  ex- 
ists in  a  wild  state  in  Southern  Europe  ;  but  the  aboriginal  parent 
of  the  garden-pea  has  been  found  by  one  collector  alone,  as  he  states, 
in  the  Crimea."8  Andrew  Knight  crossed,  as  I  am  informed  by  the 
Rev.  A.  Fitch,  the  field-pea  with  a  well-known  garden  variety,  the 
Prussian  pea,  and  the  cross  seems  to  have  been  perfectly  fertile. 
Dr.  Alefeld  has  recently  studied 79  the  genus  with  care,  and,  after 
having  cultivated  about  fifty  varieties,  concludes  that  they  all  cer- 
tainly belong  to  the  same  species.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  already 
alluded  to,  that,  according  to  O.  Heer,M  the  peas  found  in  the  lake- 
habitations  of  Switzerland  of  the  Stone  and  Bronze  ages,  belong  to 
an  extinct  variety,  with  exceedingly  small  seeds,  allied  to  P.  ar- 
vense,  or  field-pea.  The  varieties  of  the  common  garden-pea  are 
numerous,  and  differ  considerably  from  each  other.  For  compari- 
son I  planted  at  the  same  time  forty-one  English  and  French  varie- 
ties, and  in  this  one  case  I  will  describe  minutely  their  differences. 
The  varieties  differ  greatly  in  height, — namely  from  between  6  and 
12  inches  to  8  feet,61 — in  manner  of  growth,  and  in  period  of  matu- 
rity. Some  varieties  differ  in  general  aspect  even  while  only  two 
or  three  inches  in  height.  The  stems  of  the  Prussian  pea  are 
much  branched.  The  tall  kinds  have  larger  leaves  than  the  dwarf 
kinds,  but  not  in  strict  proportion  to  their  height: — Hairs'  Dwarf 
Monmouth  has  very  large  leaves,  and  the  Pais  nain  hatif,  and  the 


77  Loudon's 'Encyclop.  of  Gardening,'  79  '  Botanische  Zeitung,' 1860,  s.  204. 
p.  835.  80  '  Die    PQanzen    der    Pfahlbauten,* 

78  Alph.  De  Candolle, '  Ge"ograph.  Bot.,'  186G,  s.  23. 

960.    Mr.  Bentham  ('  Hort.  Journal,'  vol.  81  A  variety  called  the  Rouncival  at- 

ix.  (1855),  p.  141)  believes  that  garden  tains  this   height,  as  is  stated   by  Mr. 

and  field  peas  belong  to  the  same  spe-  Gordon  in  'Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,'  (2nd 

cies,  and  in  this  respect  he  differs  from  series),  vol.  i.,  1835,  p.  3T4,  from  which 

Dr.  Targioni.  paper  I  have  taken  some  facts. 


394  .  CULINARY    PLANTS.  Chap.  IX. 

moderately  tall  Blue  Prussian,  have  leaves  about  two-thirds  of  the 
size  of  the  tallest  kind.  In  the  Daneeroft  the  leaflets  are  rather 
small  and  a  little  pointed;  in  the  Queen  of  Dwarfs  rather  rounded  ; 
and  in  the  Queen  of  England  broad  and  large.  In  these  three  peas 
the  slight  differences  in  the  shape  of  the  leaves  are  accompanied  by 
slight  differences  in  colour.  In  the  Pais  geant  sans  parchemin,  which 
bears  purple  flowers,  the  leaflets  in  the  young  plant  are  edged  with 
red ;  and  in  all  the  peas  with  purple  flowers  the  stipules  are  marked 
with  red. 

In  the  different  varieties,  one  or  two,  or  several  flowers  in  a  small 
cluster,  are  borne  on  the  same  peduncle ;  and  this  is  a  difference 
which  with  some  of  the  Leguminosse  is  considered  of  specific  value. 
In  all  the  varieties  the  flowers  closely  resemble  each  other  except  in 
colour  and  size.  They  are  generally  white,  sometimes  purple,  but 
the  colour  is  inconstant  even  in  the  same  variety.  In  Warner's 
Emperor,  which  is  a  tall  kind,  the  flowers  are  nearly  double  the  size 
of  those  of  the  Pais  nam  hatif,  but  Hairs'  Dwarf  Monmouth,  which 
has  largj  leaves,  likewise  has  large  flowers.  The  calyx  in  the 
Victoria  Marrow  is  large,  and  in  Bishop's  Long  Pod  the  sepals  are 
rather  narrow.     In  no  other  kind  is  there  any  difference  in  the  flower. 

The  pods  and  seeds,  which  with  natural  species  afford  such  con- 
stant characters,  differ  greatly  in  the  cultivated  varieties  of  the  pea ; 
and  these  are  tbe  valuable,  and  consequently  the  selected  parts. 
Sugar  peas,  or  Pois  sans  parchemin,  are  remarkable  from  their 
thin  pods,  which,  whilst  young,  are  cooked  and  eaten  whole  ;  and 
in  this  group,  which  according  to  Mr.  Gordon  includes  eleven  sub- 
varieties,  it  is  the  pod  which  differs  most :  thus,  Lewis's  Negro- 
podded  pea  has  a  straight,  broad,  smooth,  and  dark- purple  pod,  with 
the  husk  not  so  thin  as  in  the  other  kinds ;  the  pod  of  another 
variety  is  extremely  bowed  ;  that  of  the  Pois  geant  is  much  pointed 
at  the  extremity ;  and  in  the  variety  "  a  grands  cosses"  the  peas 
are  seen  through  the  husk  in  so  conspicuous  a  manner  that  the  pod, 
especially  when  dry,  can  hardly  at  first  be  recognised  as  that  of  a  pea. 

In  the  ordinary  varieties  the  pods  also  differ  much  in  size ; — in 
colour,  that  of  Woodford's  Green  Marrow  being  bright-green  when 
dry,  instead  of  pale  brown,  and  that  of  the  purple-podded  pea  being 
expressed  by  its  name; — in  smoothness,  that  of  Daneeroft  being  re- 
markably glossy,  whereas  that  of  the  Ne  plus  ultra  is  rugged  ; — 
in  being  either  nearly  cylindrical,  or  broad  and  flat ; — in  being 
pointed  at  the  end  as  in  Thurston's  Reliance,  or  much  truncated  as 
in  the  American  Dwarf.  In  the  Axmergne  pea  the  whole  end  of  the 
pod  is  bowed  upwards.  In  the  Queen  of  the  Dwarfs  and  in  Scimitar 
peas  the  pod  is  almost  elliptic  in  shape.  I  here  give  drawings  of 
the  four  most  distinct  pods  produced  by  the  plants  cultivated  by  me. 


Chap.  IX. 


PEAS. 


395 


In  the  pea  itself  we  have  every  tint  between  almost  pure  white, 
brown,  yellow,  and  intense  green  ;  in  the  varieties  of  the  sugar  yeas 


Fig.  41.— Pods  and  Peas.  I.  Queen  of  Dwarfs.  II.  American  Dwarf.  III.  Thurs- 
ton's Reliance.  IV.  Pois  G£ant  Bans  parchemin.  (7.  Dan  O'Rourke  Pea. 
b.  Queen  of  Dwarfs  Pea.  c.  Knight's  Tall  White  Marrow,  d.  Lewis's 
Negro  Pea. 


we  have  these  same  tints,  together  with  red  passing  through  fine 
purple  into  a  dark  chocolate  tint.     These  colours  are  either  uniform 


396  CULINARY    PLANTS.  Chap.  IX. 

or  distributed  in  dots,  strife,  or  moss-like  marks ;  they  depend  in 
some  cases  on  the  colour  of  the  cotyledons  seen  through  the  skin, 
and  in  other  cases  on  the  outer  coats  of  the  pea  itself.  In  the  dif- 
ferent varieties  the  pods  contain,  according  to  Mr.  Gordon,  from 
eleven  or  twelve  to  only  four  or  five  peas.  The  largest  peas  are 
nearly  twice  as  much  in  diameter  as  the  smallest ;  and  the  latter 
are  not  always  borne  by  the  most  dwarfed  kinds.  Peas  differ  much 
in  shape,  being  smooth  and  spherical,  smooth  and  oblong,  nearly 
oval  in  the  Queen  of  Dwarfs,  and  nearly  cubical  and  crumpled  in 
many  of  the  larger  kinds. 

With  respect  to  the  value  of  the  differences  between  the  chief 
varieties,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that,  if  one  of  the  tall  Sugar-peas, 
with  purple  flowers,  thin-skinned  pods  of  an  extraordinary  shape, 
including  large,  dark-purple  peas,  grew  wild  by  the  side  of  the 
lowly  Queen  of  the  Dicarfs,  with  white  flowers,  greyish-green, 
rounded  leaves,  scimitar-like  pods,  containing  oblong,  smooth,  pale- 
coloured  peas,  which  became  mature  at  a  different  season ;  or  by 
the  side  of  one  of  the  gigantic  sorts,  like  the  Champion  of  England, 
with  leaves  of  great  size,  pointed  pods,  and  large,  green,  crumpled, 
almost  cubical  peas, — all  three  kinds  would  be  ranked  as  indispu- 
tably distinct  species. 

Andrew  Knight82  has  observed  that  the  varieties  of  peas  keep 
very  true,  because  they  are  not  crossed  by  insects.  As  far  as  the 
fact  of  keeping  true  is  concerned,  I  hear  from  Mr.  Masters  of  Can- 
terbury, wrell  known  as  the  originator  of  several  new  kinds,  that 
certain  varieties  have  remained  constant  for  a  considerable  time, — 
for  instance,  Knight's  Blue  Dicarf  which  came  out  about  the  year 
1820."  But  the  greater  number  of  varieties  have  a  singularly  short 
existence :  thus  Loudon  remarks M  that  "  sorts  which  were  highly 
approved  in  1821,  are  now,  in  1833,  nowhere  to  be  found;"  and  on 
comparing  the  lists  of  1833  with  those  of  1855,  I  find  that  nearly 
all  the  varieties  have  changed.  Mr.  Masters  informs  me  that  the 
nature  of  the  soil  caiises  some  varieties  to  lose  their  character.  As 
with  other  plants,  certain  varieties  can  be  propagated  truly,  whilst 
others  show  a  determined  tendency  to  vary ;  thus  two  peas  differing 
in  shape,  one  round  and  the  other  wrinkled,  were  found  by  Mr.  Mas- 
ters within  the  same  pod,  but  the  plants  raised  from  the  wrinkled 
kind  always  evinced  a  strong  tendency  to  produce  round  peas.  Mr. 
Masters  also  raised  from  a  plant  of  another  variety  four  distinct 
sub-varieties,  which  bore  blue  and  round,  white  and  round,  blue  and 


82 'Phil.  Transact.,' 1799,  p.  196.  84  'Encyclopaedia  of  Gardening,'   p. 

83  '  Gardener's  Magazine,'  vol.  i.,  1S26,        823. 
p.  153. 


Chap.  IX.  PEAS.  307 

wrinkled,  and  white  and  wrinkled  peas ;  and  although  he  sowed 
these  four  varieties  separately  during  several  successive  years,  each 
kind  always  reproduced  all  four  kinds  mixed  together ! 

With  respect  to  the  varieties  not  naturally  intercrossing,  I  have 
ascertained  that  the  pea,  which  in  this  respect  differs  from  some 
other  Lcguminosoe,  is  perfectly  fertile  without  the  aid  of  insects. 
Yet  I  have  seen  humble-bees  whilst  sucking  the  nectar  depress  the 
keel-petals,  and  become  so  thickly  dusted  with  pollen,  that  somo 
could  hardly  fail  to  be  left  on  the  stigma  of  the  next  flower  which 
was  visited.  I  have  made  inquiries  from  several  great  raisers  of 
seed-peas,  and  I  find  that  but  few  sow  them  separately ;  the  majority 
take  no  precaution ;  and  it  is  certain,  as  I  have  myself  found,  that 
true  seed  may  be  saved  during  at  least  several  generations  from 
distinct  varieties  growing  close  together."5  Under  these  circum- 
stances, Mr.  Fitch  raised,  as  he  informs  me,  one  variety  for  twenty 
years,  which  always  came  true.  From  the  analogy  of  kidney- 
beans  I  should^  have  expected86  that  occasionally,  perhaps  at 
long  intervals  of  time,  when  some  slight  degree  of. sterility  had 
supervened  from  long-continued  self-fertilisation,  varieties  thus 
growing  near  each  other  would  have  crossed ;  and  I  shall  give 
in  the  eleventh  chapter  two  cases  of  distinct  varieties  which  sponta- 
neously intercrossed,  as  shown  (in  a  manner  hereafter  to  be  ex- 
plained) by  the  pollen  of  the  one  variety  having  acted  directly  om 
the  seeds  of  the  other.  Whether  the  incessant  supply  of  new 
varieties  is  partly  due  to  such  occasional  and  accidental  crosses,  and 
their  fleeting  existence  to  changes  of  fashion ;  or  again,  whether 
the  varieties  which  arise  after  a  long  course  of  continued  self-ferti- 
lisation are  weakly  and  soon  perish,  I  cannot  even  conjecture.  It 
may,  however,  be  noticed  that  several  of  Andrew  Knight's  varie- 
ties, which  have  endured  longer  than  most  kinds,  were  raised 
towards  the  close  of  the  last  century  by  artificial  crosses ;  some  of 
them,  I  believe,  were  still,  in  1860,  vigorous ;  but  now,  in  1865,  a 
writer,  speaking"  of  Knight's  four  kinds  of  marrows,  says,  they 
have  acquired  a  famous  history,  hut  their  glory  has  departed. 

With  respect  to  Beans  {Fuba  vulgaris),  I  will  say  but  little.  Dr. 
Alefeld  has  given88  short  diagnostic  characters  of  forty  varieties. 
Every  one  who  has  seen  a  collection  must  have  been  struck  with 
the  great  difference  in  shape,  thickness,  proportional  length  and 


85  See  Dr.  Anderson  to  the  same  effect  dener's  Chronicle,'  1S57,  Oct.  25th. 

In  the  '  Bath  Soc.  Agricultural  Papers,'  87    '  Gardener's    Chronicle,'    1S65,   p. 

vol.  iv.  p.  8T.  387. 

88  I  have  published  full  details  of  ex-  88  '  Bonplandia,'  x.,  1862,  s.  848. 
periments  on  this  subject  in  the  '  Oar- 


398  CULINARY    PLANTS.  Chap.  IX. 

breadth,  colour,  and  size  which  beans  present.  What  a  contrast 
between  a  Windsor  and  Horse-bean  !  As  in  the  case  of  the  pea, 
our  existing  varieties  were  preceded  during  the  Bronze  age  in 
Switzerland  by  a  peculiar  and  now  extinct  variety  producing  very 
small  beans.89 

Potato  (Solatium  tuberosum). — There  is  little  doubt  about  the 
parentage  of  tliis  plant ;  for  the  cultivated  varieties  differ  extremely 
little  in  general  appearance  from  the  wild  species,  which  can  be 
recognised  in  its  native  land  at  the  first  glance.90  The  varieties 
cultivated  in  Britain  are  numerous ;  thus  Lawson 91  gives  a  descrip- 
tion of  175  kinds.  I  planted  eighteen  kinds  in  adjoining  rows; 
their  stems  and  leaves  differed  but  little,  and  in  several  cases  there 
was  as  great  an  amount  of  difference  between  the  individuals  of  the 
same  variety  as  between  the  different  varieties.  The  flowers  vaiy 
in  size,  and  in  colour  between  white  and  purple,  but  in  no  other 
respect,  except  that  in  one  kind  the  sepals  were  somewhat  elongated. 
One  strange  variety  has  been  described  which  always  produces  two 
sorts  of  flowers,  the  first  double  and  sterile,  the  second  single  and 
fertile.92  The  fruit  or  berries  also  differ,  but  only  in  a  slight 
degree.911 

The  tubers,  on  the  other  hand,  present  a  wonderful  amount  of 
diversity.  This  fact  accords  with  the  principle  that  the  valuable 
and  selected  parts  of  all  cultivated  productions  present  the  greatest 
amount  of  modification.  They  differ  much  in  size  and  shape,  being 
globular,  oval,  flattened,  kidney-like,  or  cylindrical.  One  variety 
from  Peru  is  described 94  as  being  quite  straight,  and  at  least  six 
iuches  in  length,  though  no  thicker  than  a  man's  finger.  The  eyes 
or  buds* differ  in  form,  position,  and  colour.  The  manner  in  which 
the  tubers  are  arranged  on  the  so-called  roots  is  different ;  thus  in 
the  gurken-kartoffdn  they  form  a  pyramid  with  the  apex  down- 
wards, and  in  another  variety  they  bury  themselves  deep  in  the 
ground.  The  roots  themselves  run  either  near  the  surface  or  deep 
in  the  ground.  The  tubers  also  differ  in  smoothness  and  colour, 
being  externally  white,  red,  purple,  or  almost  black,  and  internally 
white,  yellow,  or  almost  black.     They  differ  in  flavour  and  quality, 


89  0.  Heer,  'Die  Pflanzen  der  Pfahl-  Chronicle,'  1S45,  p.  TOO. 

bauten,'  1S66,  s.  22.  9S   '  Putsche    und    Vertuch,    Versuch 

90  Darwin,  '  Journal  of  Researches,'  einer  Monographie  der  Kartoffeln,'  1819, 
1S45,  p.  285.  s.  9,  15.    See  also  Dr.  Anderson's  '  Re- 

91  Synopsis  of  the  vegetable  products  creations  in  Agriculture,'  vol.  iv.  p.  325. 
of  Scotland,  quoted  in  Wilson's  '  British  94  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1863,  p. 
Farming,'  p.  31T.  1052. 

92  Sir  G.  Mackenzie,  in  '  Gardener's 


CniP.  IX.  POTATOES.  399 

being  either  waxy  or  mealy;   in  their  peri.nl  of  maturity,  and  in 
their  capacity  for  long  preservation. 
As  with  many  other  plants  which  have  been  long  propagated  by 

bulbs,  tubers,  cuttings,  &c.,  by  which  means  the  same  individual  is 
exposed  during  a  length  of  time  to  diversified  conditions,  seedling 
potatoes  generally  display  innumerable  slight  differences.  Several 
varieties,  even  when  propagated  by  tubers,  are  far  from  constant, 
as  will  be  seen  in  the  chapter  on  Bud-variation.  Dr.  Anderson95 
procured  seed  from  an  Irish  purple  potato,  which  grew  far  from  any 
other  kind,  so  that  it  could  not  at  least  in  this  generation  have  been 
crossed,  yet  the  many  seedlings  varied  in  almost  every  possible 
respect,  so  that  "  scarcely  two  plants  were  exactly  alike."  Some  of 
the  plants  which  closely  resembled  each  other  above  ground,  pro- 
duced extremely  dissimilar  tubers  ;  and  some  tubers  which  exter- 
nally could  hardly  be  distinguished,  differed  widely  in  quality  when 
cooked.  Even  in  this  case  of  extreme  variability,  the  parent-stock 
had  some  influence  on  the  progeny,  for  the  greater  number  of  the 
seedlings  resembled  in  some  degree  the  parent  Irish  potato.  Kid- 
ney potatoes  must  be  ranked  amongst  the  most  highly  cultivated 
and  artificial  races  :  yet  their  peculiarities  can  often  be  strictly  pro- 
pagated by  seed.  A  great  authority,  Mr.  Rivers,06  states  that  "  seed- 
lings from  the  ash-leaved  kidney  always  bear  a  strong  resemblance 
to  their  parent.  Seedlings  from  the  fluke-kidney  are  still  more 
remarkable  for  their  adherence  to  their  parent-stock,  for,  on  closely 
observing  a  great  number  during  two  seasons,  I  have  not  been  able 
to  observe  the  least  difference  either  in  earliness,  productiveness,  or 
in  the  size  or  shape  of  their  tubers." 


05    ;  Bath    Society  Agrieult.   Papers,'  96    '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'   1863,   p. 

vol.  v.  p.  127.      And    '  Recreations    in        64C. 
Agriculture,'  vol.  v.  p.  S6. 


400  FRUITS.  Chap.  X. 


CHAPTER  X. 

PLANTS    continue^,  —  FRUITS  —  ORNAMENTAL    TREES  — 
FLOWERS. 

FRUITS.  —  Grapes — vary  in  odd  and  tripling  particulars. 

MULBERRY. THE  ORANGE    GROUP —  SINGULAR  RESULTS 

FROM  CROSSING. PEACH  AND  NECTARINE  —  BUD- VARIATION 

—  ANALOGOUS    VARIATION  —  RELATION    TO    THE    ALMOND. 

APRICOT. PLUMS  —  VARIATION  IN  THEIR  STONES. CHER- 
RIES —  SINGULAR    VARIETIES    OF.  APPLE.  PEAR. 

STRAWBERRY  —  INTERBLENDING   OF  THE   ORIGINAL  FORMS. 

GOOSEBERRY  —  STEADY    INCREASE    IN    SIZE    OF    THE    FRUIT  — 

VARIETIES     OF.  ■WALNUT.  NUT.  CUCURBITACEOUS 

PLANTS  —  WONDERFUL  VARIATION  OF. 

ORNAMENTAL  TREES  —  their  variation  in  degree  and 

KIND  —  ASH-TREE  —  SCOTCH-FIR  —  HAWTHORN. 
FLOWERS  —  MULTIPLE  ORIGIN  OF  MANY  KINDS  —  VARIATION  IN 

CONSTITUTIONAL     PECULIARITIES  —  KIND     OF     VARIATION. 

ROSES  —  SEVERAL    SPECIES    CULTIVATED.  PANSY. DAH- 
LIA.   HYACINTH  —  HISTORY  AND  VARIATION  OF. 

The  Vine  ( Yitis  vim/era). — The  best  authorities  consider  all  oar 
grapes  as  the  descendants  cf  one  species  which  now  grows  wild  in 
western  Asia,  which  grew  during  the  Bronze-age  wild  in  Italy,1  and 
which  has  recently  been  found  fossil  in  a  tufaceous  deposit  in  the  south 
of  France.2  Some  authors,  however,  entertain  much  doubt  about  the 
single  parentage  of  our  cultivated  varieties,  owing  to  the  number 
of  semi-wild  forms  found  in  Southern  Europe,  especially  as  de- 
scribed by  Clemente,3  in  a  forest  in  Spain  ;  but  as  the  grape  sows 


1  Heer,  '  PQanzen   der  Pfahlbauten,'  tbe  fossil  vine  found  by  Dr.  G.  Planchon, 
1866,  s.  28.  see  '  Nat.  Hist.  Review,'  1865,  April,  p. 

2  Alph.  De  Candolle, '  Geograph.  Bot.,'  224. 

p.   S72 ;     Dr.   A.     Targioni-Tozzetti,    in  3  Godron,   '  De  l'Espece,'   torn.  ii.  p. 

'  Jour.  Hort.  Soc.,' vol.  ix.  p.  133.     For  100. 


Chap.  X.  VINES.  401 

itself  freely  in  Southern  Europe,  and  as  several  of  the  chief  kinds 
transmit  their  characters  by  seed,4  whilst  others  are  extremely 
variable,  the  existence  of  many  different  escaped  forms  could  hardly 
fail  to  occur  in  countries  where  this  plant  has  been  cultivated  from 
the  remotest  antiquity.  That  the  vine  varies  much  when  propaga- 
ted by  seed,  wo  may  infer  from  the  largely  increased  number  of 
varieties  since  the  earlier  historical  records.  New  hot-house  varie- 
ties are  produced  almost  every  year  ;  for  instance,5  a  golden-coloured 
variety  has  been  recently  raised  in  England  from  a  black  grape 
without  the  aid  of  a  cross.  Van  Mons 6  reared  a  multitude  of  va- 
rieties from  the  seed  of  one  vine,  which  was  completely  separated 
from  all  others,  so  that  there  could  not,  at  least  in  this  generation, 
have  been  any  crossing,  and  the  seedlings  presented  "  les  analogues 
de  toutes  les  sortes,"  and  differed  in  almost  every  possible  character, 
both  in  the  fruit  and  foliage. 

The  cultivated  varieties  are  extremely  numerous;  Count  Odart 
says  that  he  will  not  deny  that  there  may  exist  throughout  the 
world  700  or  800,  perhaps  even  1000  varieties,  but  not  a  third  of  these 
have  any  value.  In  the  Catalogue  of  fruit  cultivated  in  the  Horticul- 
tural Gardens  of  London,  published  in  1842,  99  varieties  are  enu- 
merated. Wherever  the  grape  is  grown  many  varieties  occur:  Pal- 
las describes  24  in  the  Crimea,  and  Burnes  mentions  10  in  Cabool. 
The  classification  of  the  varieties  has  much  perplexed  writers,  and 
Count  Odart  is  reduced  to  a  geographical  system ;  but  I  will  not 
enter  on  this  subject,  nor  on  the  many  and  great  differences  between 
the  varieties.  I  will  merely  specify  a  few  curious  and  trifling  pecu- 
liarities, all  taken  from  Odart 's  highly  esteemed  work,7  for  the  sake 
of  showing  the  diversified  variability  of  this  plant.  Simon  has  classed 
grapes  into  two  main  divisions,  those  with  downy  leaves  and  those 
with  smooth  leaves,  but  he  admits  that  in  one  variety,  namely  the 
Rebazo,  the  leaves  are  either  smooth  or  downy ;  and  Odart  (p.  70) 
states  that  some  varieties  have  the  nerves  alone,  and  other  varieties 
their  young  leaves,  downy,  whilst  the  old  ones  are  smooth.  The 
Pedro-XimeD.es  grape  (Odart,  p.  397)  presents  a  peculiarity  by  which 
it  can  be  at  once  recognised  amongst  a  host  of  other  varieties,  name- 
ly, that  when  the  fruit  is  nearly  ripe  the  nerves  of  the  leaves  or  even 
the  whole  surface  becomes  yellow.  The  Barbera  d'Asti  is  well 
marked  by  several  characters  (p.  426),  amongst  others,  "  by  some  of 


4  See  an  account  of  M.  Vibert's   ex-  "  '  Arbres  Fruitiers,'  1336,  torn.  ii.  p. 

perlments,  by  Alex.  Jordan,  in  '  Mem.  290. 

de  J'Acad.   de  Lyon,'  torn,  ii.,  1852,  p.  7  Odart,  'Ampelographie  Universelle,' 

10S  1S49. 

s  '  Cardner's  Chronicle,'  1864,  p.  438. 


402  FRUITS.  Chap.  X. 

the  leaves,  and  it  is  always  the  lowest  on  the  branches,  suddenly  be- 
coming of  a  dark  red  colour."  Several  authors  in  classifying  grapes 
have  founded  their  main  divisions  on  the  berries  being  either  round 
or  oblong ;  and  Odart  admits  the  value  of  this  character ;  yet  there 
is  one  variety,  the  Maecabeo  (p.  71),  which  often  produces  small 
round,  and  large  oblong,  berries  in  the  same  bunch.  Certain  grapes 
called  Nebbiolo  (p.  439)  present  a  constant  character,  sufficient  for 
their  recognition,  namely,  "the  slight  adherence  of  that  part  of  the 
pulp  which  surrounds  the  seeds  to  the  rest  of  the  berry,  when  cut 
through  transversely."  A  Rhenish  variety  is  mentioned  (p.  228) 
which  likes  a  dry  soil ;  the  fruit  ripens  well,  but  at  the  moment  of 
maturity,  if  much  rain  falls,  the  berries  are  apt  to  rot ;  on  the  other 
hand,  the  fruit  of  a  Swiss  variety  (p.  243)  is  valued  for  well  sustain- 
ing prolonged  humidity.  This  latter  variety  sprouts  late  in  the 
spring,  yet  matures  its  fruit  early;  other  varieties  (p.  362)  have  the 
fault  of  being  too  much  excited  by  the  April  sun,  and  in  consequence 
suffer  from  frost.  A  Styrian  variety  (p.  254)  has  brittle  foot-stalks, 
so  that  the  clusters  of  fruit  are  often  blown  off;  this  variety  is  said 
to  be  particularly  attractive  to  wasps  and  bees.  Other  varieties  have 
tough  stalks,  which  resist  the  wind.  Many  other  variable  charac- 
ters could  be  given,  but  the  foregoing  facts  are  sufficient  to  show 
in  how  many  small  structural  and  constitutional  details  the  vine 
varies.  During  the  vine  disease  in  France  certain  whole  groups  of 
varieties b  have  suffered  far  more  from  mildew  than  others.  Thus 
"  the  group  of  the  Chasselas,  so  rich  in  varieties,  did  not'afford  a  sin- 
gle fortunate  exception  ;"  certain  other  groups  suffered  much  less; 
the  true  old  Burgundy,  for  instance,  was  comparatively  free  from 
disease,  and  the  Carminat  likewise  resisted  the  attack.  The  Ameri- 
can vines,  which  belong  to  a  distinct  species,  entirely  escaped  the 
disease  in  France ;  and  we  thus  see  that  those  European  varieties 
which  best  resist  the  disease  must  have  acquired  in  a  slight  degree 
the  same  constitutional  peculiarities  as  the  American  species. 

White  Mulberry  (Morus  rilba). — I  mention  this  plant  because  it  has 
varied  in  certain  characters,  namely,  in  the  texture  and  quality  of 
the  leaves,  fitting  them  to  serve  as  food  for  the  domesticated  silk- 
worm, in  a  manner  not  observed  with  other  plants ;  but  this  has 
arisen  simply  from  such  -variations  in  the  mulberry  having  been  at- 
tended to,  selected,  and  rendered  more  or  less  constant.  M.  de  Qua- 
trefages9  briefly  describes  six  kinds  cultivated  in  one  valley  in 
France:  of  these  the  amourouso  produces  excellent  leaves,  but  is 


8  M.  Bouchardat,   in   '  Comptes  Ren-  9  '  Etudes  sur  les  Maladies  actuellcs 

dus,'  Dec.  1st,  1851,  quoted  in  '  Garden-        du  Ver  a  Soie,'  1^59,  p.  831. 
er's  CUron.,'  1852,  p.  435. 


Chap.  X.  ORANGE    GROUP.  403 

rapidly  being  abandoned  because  it  produces  much  fruit  mingled 
with  the  leaves:  the  antqfino  yields  deeply  cut  leaves  of  the.  finest 
quality,  but  not  in  great  quantity  :  the  ckaro  is  much  sought  for  be- 
cause the  leaves  can  be  easily  collected :  lastly,  the  roso  bears  strong 
hardy  leaves,  produced  in  large  quantity,  but  with  the  one  incon- 
venience, that  they  are  best  adapted  for  the  worms  after  their  fourth 
moult.  MM.  Jacquemet -Bonne font,  of  Lyon,  however,  remark  in 
their  catalogue  (1802)  that  two  sub-varieties  have  been  confounded 
under  the  name  of  the  roso,  one  having  leaves  too  thick  for  the  ca- 
terpillars, the  other  being  valuable  because  the  leaves  can  easily  be 
gathered  from  the  branches  without  the  bark  being  torn. 

In  India  the  mulberry  has  also  given  rise  to  many  varieties.  The 
.  Indian  form  is  thought  by  many  botanists  to  be  a  distinct  species ; 
but  as  Royle  remarks,10  "so  many  varieties  have  been  produced  by 
cultivation  that  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  whether  they  all  belong  to 
one  species ;"  they  are,  as  he  adds,  nearly  as  numerous  us  those  of 
the  silkworm. 

The  Orange  Group. — We  here  meet  with  great  confusion  in  the 
specific  distinction  and  parentage  of  the  several  kinds.  Gallesio,11 
who  almost  devoted  his  life-time  to  the  subject,  considers  that  there 
are  four  species,  namely,  sweet  and  bitter  oranges,  lemons,  and  ci- 
trons, each  of  which  has  given  rise  to  whole  groups  of  varieties, 
monsters,  and  supposed  hybrids.  One  high  authority  u  believes  that 
these  four  reputed  species  are  all  varieties  of  the  wild  Citrus  medica, 
but  that  the  shaddock  (Citrus  decumana),  which  is  not  known  in  a 
wild  state,  is  a  distinct  species ;  though  its  distinctness  is  doubted  by 
another  writer  "of  great  authority  on  such  matters,"  namely,  Dr. 
Buchanan  Hamilton.  Alph.  De  Candolle,13  on  the  other  hand — and 
there  cannot  be  a  more  capable  judge — advances  what  he  considers 
sufficient  evidence  of  the  orange  (he  doubts  whether  the  bitter  and 
sweet  kinds  are  specifically  distinct),  the  lemon,  and  citron,  having 
been  found  wild,  and  consequently  that  they  are  distinct.  He  men- 
tions two  other  forms  cultivated  in  Japan  and  Java,  which  he  ranks 
as  undoubted  species;  bespeaks  rather  more  doubtfully  about  the 
shaddock,  which  varies  much,  and  has  not  been  found  wild ;  and 
finally  he  considers  some  forms,  such  as  Adam's  apple  and  the  ber- 
gamotte,  as  probably  hybrids. 


10  i  Productive  Resources  of  India,'  p.  which  he  gives  a  curious  diagram  of  the 
130.  supposed  relationship  of  all  the  forms. 

11  'Traite  du  Citrus,'  1811.  '  Teoria  12  Mr.  Bentham,  Review  of  Dr.  A. 
della  Riproduzione  Vegetale,'  1816.  I  Targioni-Tozzetti,  'Journal  of  Hort.  Soc.,' 
quote  chiefly  from  this  second  work.    In  vol.  ix.  p.  188. 

1339    Gallesio    published    in    folio  '  Gli  "  <  Geogruph.  Bot.,'  p.  863. 
Agrumi  dei  Giard.  Bot.  di  Firenze,'  in 


404  FRUITS.  Chap.  X 

I  have  briefly  abstracted  these  opinions  for  the  sake  of  showing 
those  who  have  never  attended  to  such  subjects,  how  perplexed  with 
doubt  they  are.  It  would,  therefore,  be  useless  for  my  purpose  to 
give  a  sketch  of  the  conspicuous  differences  between  the  several 
forms.  Besides  the  ever-recurrent  difficulty  of  determining  whether 
forms  found  Mild  are  truly  aboriginal  or  are  escaped  seedlings,  many 
of  the  forms,  which  must  be  ranked  as  varieties,  transmit  their  cha- 
racters almost  perfectly  by  seed.  Sweet  and  bitter  oranges  differ  in 
no  important  respect  except  in  the  flavour  of  their  fruit,  but  Gallesio14 
is  most  emphatic  that  both  kinds  can  be  propagated  by  seed  with 
absolute  certainty.  Consequently,  in  accordance  with  his  simple 
rule,  he  classes  them  as  distinct  species  ;  as  he  does  sweet  and  bitter 
almonds,  the  peach  and  nectarine,  &c.  He  admits,  however,  that 
the  soft-shelled  pine-tree  produces  not  only  soft-shelled  but  some 
hard-shelled  seedlings,  so  that  a  little  greater  force  in  the  power  of 
inheritance  would,  according  to  this  rule,  raise  the  soft-shelled  pine- 
tree  into  the  dignity  of  an  aboriginally  created  species.  The  posi- 
tive assertion  made  by  Macfayden  15  that  the  pips  of  sweet  oranges 
produce  in  Jamaica,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  soil  in  which 
they  are  sown,  either  sweet  or  bitter  oranges,  is  probably  an  error  ; 
for  M.  Alph.  De  Candolle  informs  me  that  since  the  publication  of  his 
great  work  he  has  received  accounts  from  Guiana,  the  Antilles,  and 
Mauritius,  that  in  these  countries  sweet  oranges  faithfully  transmit 
their  character.  Gallesio  found  that  the  willow-leafed  and  the  Little 
China  oranges  reproduced  their  proper  leaves  and  fruit ;  but  the 
seedlings  were  not  quite  equal  in  merit  to  their  parents.  The  red- 
fleshed  orange,  on  the  other  hand,  fails  to  reproduce  itself.  Gallesio 
also  observed  that  the  seeds  of  several  other  singular  varieties  all 
reproduced  trees  having  a  peculiar  physiognomy,  but  partly  resem- 
bling their  parent-forms.  I  can  adduce  another  case  :  the  myrtle- 
leaved  orange  is  ranked  by  all  authors  as  a  variety,  but  is  very  dis- 
tinct in  general  aspect :  in  my  father's  greenhouse,  during  many 
years,  it  rarely  yielded  any  seed,  but  at  last  produced  one ;  and  a 
tree  thus  raised  was  identical  with  the  parent-form. 

Another  and  more  serious  difficulty  in  determining  the  rank  of  the 
several  forms  is  that,  according  to  Gallesio,16  they  largely  intercross 
without  artificial  aid  ;  thus  he  positively  states  that  seeds  taken  from 
lemon-trees  [G.  lemonum)  growing  mingled  with  the  citron  (ft  me- 
dica),  which  is  generally  considered  as  a  distinct  species,  produced 
a  graduated  series  of  varieties  between  these  two  forms.     Again,  an 


i*  'Teoria    della    Riproduzione,'    pp.        302  ;  vol.  ii.  p.  111. 
52-57.  16  'Teoria  della  Uiproduzione,'  p.  53. 

1S  Hooker's   'Bot.    Misc.,'   vol.    i.   p. 


Chap.  x.  ORANGE    GROUP.  405 

Adam's  apple  was  produced  from  the  seed  of  a  sweet  orange,  which 
grew  close  to  lemons  and  citrons.  But  such  facts  hardly  aid  us  in  de- 
termining whether  to  rank  these  forms  as  species  or  varieties;  for  it 
is  now  known  that  undoubted  species  of  Verbascum,  Cistus,  Primula, 
Salix.  fas.,  frequently  cross  in  a  state  of  nature.  If  indeed  it  were 
proved  that  plants  of  the  orange  tribe  raised  from  these  crosses 
were  even  partially  sterile,  it  would  be  a  strong  argument  in  favour 
of  their  rank  as  species.  Gallesio  asserts  that  this  is  the  case  ;  but 
he  does  not  distinguish  between  sterility  from  hybridism  and  from 
the  effects  of  culture  ;  and  he  almost  destroys  the  force  of  this  state- 
ment by  another,17  namely,  that  when  he  impregnated  the  flowers 
of  the  common  orange  with  the  pollen  taken  from  undoubted  varie- 
ties of  the  orange,  monstrous  fruits  were  produced,  which  included 
"  little  pulp,  and  had  no  seeds,  or  imperfect  seeds." 

In  this  tribe  of  plants  we  meet  with  instances  of  two  highly  re- 
markable facts  in  vegetable  physiology  :  Gallesio  ie  impregnated  an 
orange  with  pollen  from  a  lemon,  and  the  fruit  borne  on  the  mother 
tree  had  a  raised  stripe  of  peel  like  that  of  a  lemon  both  in  colour 
and  taste,  but  the  pulp  was  like  that  of  an  orange  and  included  only 
imperfect  seeds.  The  possibility  of  pollen  from  one  variety  or 
species  directly  affecting  the  fruit  produced  by  another  variety  or 
species,  is  a  subject  which  I  shall  fully  discuss  in  the  following 
chapter. 

The  second  remarkable  fact  is  that  two  supposed  hybrids  19  (for 
their  hybrid  nature  was  not  ascertained)  between  an  orange  and 
either  a  lemon  or  citron  produced,  on  the  same  tree,  leaves,  flowers, 
and  fruit  of  both  pure  parent-forms,  as  well  as  of  a  mixed  or  crossed 
nature.  A  bud  taken  from  any  one  of  the  branches  and  grafted 
on  another  tree  produces  either  one  of  the  pure  kinds  or  a  capricious 
tree  reproducing  the  three  kinds.  Whether  the  sweet  lemon,  which 
includes  within  the  same  fruit  segments  of  differently  flavoured 
pulp,20  is  an  analogous  case,  I  know  not.  But  to  this  subject  I  shall 
have  to  recur. 

I  will  conclude  by  giving  from  A.  Risso 21  a  short  account  of  a  very 
singular  variety  of  the  common  orange.  It  is  the  "  citrus  a  >t  ra  n  ft  >t  m 
fructu  variabili,"  which  on  the  young  shoots  produces  rounded-oval 
leaves  spotted  with  yellow,  borne  on  petioles  with  heart-shaped 
wings ;  when  these  leaves  fall  off,  they  are  succeeded  by  longer  and 
narrower  leaves,  with  undulated  margins,  of  a  pale-green  colour 


17  Gallesio,    'Teoria    della  Riprodu-            20    'Gardener's    Chronicle,'    1841,   p. 
rione,'  p.  69.  613. 

18  Gallesio,  idem,  p.  67.  21  '  Annales  du  Museum,'  torn.  xy..  p. 

19  Gallesio,  idem,  pp.  75,  70.  188. 


406 


FRUITS. 


Chap.  X. 


embroidered  with  yellow,  borne  on  foot-stalks  without  wings.  The 
fruit  whilst  young  is  pear-shaped,  yellow,  longitudinally  striated, 
and  sweet ;  but  as  it  ripens,  it  becomes  spherical,  of  a  reddish-yellow, 
and  bitter. 


Fig.  42. — Peach  and  Almond  Stones,  of  natural  size,  viewed  edgeways.  1.  Common 
English  Peach.  2.  Double,  crimson-flowered,  Chinese  Peach.  3.  Chinese  Honey 
Peach.  4.  English  Almond.  5.  Barcelona  Almond.  6.  Malaga  Almond.  1.  Soft- 
shelled  French  Almond.    8.  Smyrna  Almond. 


Peach  and  Nectarine  (Amygdalus  Persica). — The  best  authorities 
are  nearly  unanimous  that  the  peach  has  never  been  found  wild. 


Cuap.  x.  PEACH   AND    NECTARINE.  407 

It  was  introduced  from  Persia  into  Europe  a  little  before  the  Chris- 
tian era,  and  at  this  period  few  varieties  existed.  Alph.  l)e  Can- 
dolle,--  from  the  fact  of  the  peach  not  having  spread  from  Persia  at 
an  earlier  period,  and  from  its  not  having  pure  Sanscrit  or  Hebrew 
names,  believes  that  it  is  not  an  aboriginal  of  Western  Asia,  but 
came  from  the  terra  ineognitaot  China.  The  supposition,  however, 
that  the  peach  is  a  modified  almond  which  acquired  its  present  cha- 
racter at  a  comparatively  late  period,  would,  I  presume,  account  for 
these  facts;  on  the  same  principle  that  the  nectarine,  the  offspring 
of  the  peach,  has  few  native  names,  and  became  known  in  Europe 
at  a  still  later  period. 

Andrew  Knight,23  from  finding  that  a  seedling-tree,  raised  from  a 
sweet  almond  fertilised  by  the  pollen  of  a  peach,  yielded  fruit  quite 
like  that  of  a  peach,  suspected  that  the  peach-tree  is  a  modified  al- 
mond ;  and  in  this  he  has  been  followed  by  various  authors."4  A 
first-rate  peach,  almost  globular  in  shape,  formed  of  soft  and  sweet 
pulp,  surrounding  a  hard,  much  furrowed,  and  slightly-flattened 
stone,  certainly  differs  greatly  from  an  almond,  with  its  soft,  slight- 
ly furrowed,  much  flattened,  and  elongated  stone,  protected  by  a 
tough,  greenish  layer  of  bitter  flesh.  Mr.  Bentham  "*  has  particular- 
ly called  attention  to  the  stone  of  the  almond  being  so  much  more 
flattened  than  that  of  the  peach.  But  in  the  several  varieties  of  the 
almond,  the  stone  differs  greatly  in  the  degree  to  which  it  is  com- 
pressed, in  size,  shape,  strength,  and  in  the  depth  of  the  furrows,  as 
may  be  seen  In  the  accompanying  drawings  (Nos.  4  to  8)  of  such 
kinds  as  I  have  been  able  to  collect.  With  peach-stones  also  (Xos. 
1  to  3)  the  degree  of  compression  and  elongation  is  seen  to  vary;  so 
that  the  stone  of  the  Chinese  Honey-peach  (fig.  3)  is  much  more 
elongated  and  compressed  than  that  of  the  (No.  8)  Smyrna  almond. 
Mr.  Rivers  of  Sawbridgeworth,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  some  of 
the  specimens  above  figured,  and  Avho  has  had  such  great  horticul- 
tural experience,  has  called  my  attention  to  several  varieties  which 
connect  the  almond  and  the  .peach.  In  France  there  is  a  variety 
called  the  Peach-almond,  which  Mr.  Rivera  formerly  cultivated,  and 
which  is  correctly  described  in  a  French  catalogue  as  being  oval  and 


22  '  Geograph.  Bot.'  p.  S32.  mond  and  the  peach.     Another  high  au- 

23  '  Transactions  of  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  thority,  Mr.  Rivers,  who  has  had  such 
iii.  p.  1,  and  vol.  iv.  p.  8G9,  and  note  to  wide  experience,  strongly  suspects  ('Gar- 
p.  370.  A  coloured  drawing  is  given  of  dener's  Chronicle,'  1S63,  p.  27)  that 
this  hybrid.  peaches,  if  left  to  a  state  of  nature,  would 

24  'Gardener's  Chronicle,'  185C,  p.  in  the  course  of  time  retrograde  into  thick- 
532.     A  writer,  it  may  be  presumed  Dr.  fleshed  almonds. 

Lindley,  remarks  on  the  perfect  series  25  'Journal  of  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  ix.  p. 

which  may  be  formed  between  the  al-  163. 


408  FRUITS.  Chap.  X. 

swollen,  with  the  aspect  of  a  peach,  including  a  hard  stone  sur- 
rounded by  a  fleshy  covering,  which  is  sometimes  eatable.26  A  re- 
markable statement  by  M.  Luizet  has  recently  appeared  in  the  '  Re- 
vue Horticole,'  ~7  namely,  that  a  Peach-almond,  grafted  on  a  peach, 
bore  during  1863  and  1864  almonds  alone,  but  in  1865  bore  six 
peaches  and  no  almonds.  M.  Carriere,  in  commenting  on  this  fact, 
cites  the  case  of  a  double-flowered  almond  which,  after  producing 
during  several  years  almonds,  suddenly  bore  for  two  years  in  suc- 
cession spherical  fleshy  peach-like  fruits,  but  in  1865  reverted  to  its 
former  state  and  produced  large  almonds. 

Again,  as  I  hear  from  Mr.  Rivers,  the  double-flowering  Chinese 
peaches  resemble  almonds  in  their  manner  of  growth  and  in  their 
flowers ;  the  fruit  is  much  elongated  and  flattened,  with  the  flesh 
both  bitter  and  sweet,  but  not  uneatable,  and  it  is  said  to  be  of 
better  quality  in  China.  From  this  stage  one  small  step  leads  us  to 
such  inferior  peaches  as  are  occasionally  raised  from  seed.  For  in- 
stance, Mr.  Rivers  sowed  a  number  of  peach-stones  imported  from 
the  United  States,  where  they  are  collected  for  raising  stocks,  and 
some  of  the  trees  raised  by  him  produced  peaches  which  were  very 
like  almonds  in  appearance,  being  small  and  hard,  with  the  pulp 
not  softening  till  very  late  in  the  autumn.  Van  Mons 28  also  states 
that  he  once  raised  from  a  peach-stone  a  peach  having  the  aspect  of 
a  wild  tree,  with  fruit  like  that  of  the  almond.  From  inferior  peaches, 
such  as  these  just  described,  we  may  pass  by  small  transitions, 
through  clingstones  of  poor  quality,  to  our  best  and- more  melting 
kinds.  From  this  gradation,  from  the  cases  of  sudden  variation 
above  recorded,  and  from  the  fact  that  the  peach  has  not  been  found 
wild,  it  seems  to  me  by  far  the  most  probable  view,  that  the  peach  is 
the  descendant  of  the  almond,  improved  and  modified  in  a  marvel- 
lous manner. 

One  fact,  however,  is  opposed  to  this  conclusion.  A  hybrid,  raised 
by  Knight  from  the  sweet  almond  by  the  pollen  of  the  peach,  pro- 
duced flowers  with  little  or  no  pollen,  yet  bore  fruit,  having  been 
apparently  fertilised  by  a  neighbouring  nectarine.  Another  hybrid 
from  a  sweet  almond  by  the  pollen  of  a  nectarine  produced  during 
the  first  three  years  imperfect  blossoms,  but  afterwards  perfect 
flowers  with  an  abundance  of  pollen.  If  this  slight  degree  of  ste- 
rility cannot  be  accounted  for  by  the  youth  of  the  trees  (and  this 


26  Whether  this  is  the  same  variety  as  successive  years  very  different  kinds  of 

one    lately  mentioned   (' Gard.  Chron.'  fruit. 

1S65,  p.  1154)  by  M.  Carriere  under  the  27  Quoted  in  '  Gard.  Chron.'  1866,  p. 

name  of  Persica  intermedia,  I  know  800. 

not :  this  var.  is  said  to  be  intermediate  28  Quoted  in  '  Journal  de  la  Soc.  Imp. 

in  nearly  all  its  characters  between  the  d'Horticulture,'  1855,  p.  288. 
almond  and  peach  ;  it  produces  during 


Chap.  X.  PEACH    AND    NECTARINE.  409 

often  causes  lessened  fertility),  or  by  the  monstrous  state  of  the 
flowers,  or  by  the  conditions  to  which  the  trees  were  exposed,  these 
two  cases  would  afford  a  strong  argument  against  the  peach  being 
the  descendant  of  the  almond. 

Whether  or  not  the  peach  has  proceeded  from  the  almond,  it  has 
certainly  given  rise  to  nectarines,  or  smooth  peaches,  as  they  are 
called  by  the  French.  Most  of  the  varieties  both  of  the  peach  and 
nectarine  reproduce  themselves  truly  by  seed.  Gallesio 20  says  he  has 
verified  this  with  respect  to  eight  races  of  the  peach.  Mr.  Elvers 30  has 
given  some  striking  instances  from  his  own  experience,  and  it  is  no- 
torious that  good  peaches  are  constantly  raised  in  North  America 
from  seed.  Many  of  the  American  sub-varieties  come  true  or  near- 
ly true  to  their  kind,  such  as  the  white-blossom,  several  of  the  yel- 
low-fruited freestone  peaches,  the  blood  clingstone,  the  heath,  and 
the  lemon-clingstone.  On  the  other  hand,  a  clingstone  peach  has 
been  known  to  give  rise  to  a  freestone.31  In  England  it  has  been 
noticed  that  seedlings  inherit  from  their  parents  flowers  of  the  same 
size  and  colour.  Some  characters,  however,  contrary  to  what  might 
have  been  expected,  often  are  not  inherited ;  such  as  the  presence 
and  form  of  the  glands  on  the  leaves.32  With  respect  to  nectarines, 
both  cling  and  freestones  are  known  in  North  America  to  reproduce 
themselves  by  seed.33  In  England  the  new  white  nectarine  was  a 
seedling  of  the  old  white,  and  Mr.  Rivers  34  has  recorded  several 
similar  cases.  From  this  strong  tendency  to  inheritance,  which 
both  peach  and  nectarine  trees  exhibit, — from  certain  slight  consti- 
tutional differences  35  in  their  nature, — and  from  the  great  difference 
in  their  fruit  both  in  appearance  and  flavour,  it  is  not  surprising, 
notwithstanding  that  the  trees  differ  in  no  other  respects  and  can- 
not even  be  distinguished,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Rivers,  whilst 
young,  that  they  have  been  ranked  by  some  authors  as  specifically 
distinct.  Gallesio  does  not  doubt  that  they  are  distinct ;  even  Alph. 
De  Candolle  does  not  appear  perfectly  assured  of  their  specific  iden- 
tity ;  and  an  eminent  botanist  has  quite  recently 30  maintained  that 
the  nectarine  "  probably  constitutes  a  distinct  species." 


29  '  Teoria    della  Riproduzione  Vege-  pece,'  torn.  ii.  p.  97. 

tale,'  1816,  p.  S6.  33  Biickell's  '  Nat,  Hist,  of   N.  Caro- 

30  '  Gardener's    Chronicle,'    1862,    p.  lina,'    p.    10"2,    and    Downing's    '  Fruit 
1195.  Trees,'  p.  505. 

31  Mr.  Rivers,  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  3*   '  Gardener's    Chronicle,'   1S62,    p. 
1S59,  p.  774.  1196. 

3a  Downing,  'The  Fruits  of  America,'  35  The  peach  and  nectarine  donotsuc- 

1S45,  pp.  475,  4S9,  492,  494,   496.    See  ceed  equally  well  in  the  same  soil :  see 

also  F.  Michaux,  '  Travels  in  N.  Ameri-  Lindley's  '  Horticulture,'  p.  351. 

ca'  (Eng.  translat.),  p.  228.    For  similar  3S  Godron,  '  Del'Espece,'  torn.  Ii.  1S59, 

cases  in   France  see  Godron,  '  De  l'Es-  p.  97. 
18 


410  FRUITS. 


Chap.  X. 


Hence  it  may  be  worth  while  to  give  all  the  evidence  on  the  origin 
of  the  nectarine.  The  facts  in  themselves  are  curious,  and  will 
hereafter  have  to  be  referred  to  when  the  important  subject  of  bud- 
variation  is  discussed.  It  is  asserted 37  that  the  Boston  nectarine  was 
produced  from  a  peach-stone,  and  this  nectarine  reproduced  itself  by 
seed.38  Mr.  Rivers  states 39  that  from  stones  of  three  distinct  varie- 
ties of  the  peach  he  raised  three  varieties  of  nectarine ;  and  in  one 
of  these  cases  no  nectarine  grew  near  the  parent  peach-tree.  In  an- 
other instance  Mr.  Rivers  raised  a  nectarine  from  a  peach,  and  in  the 
succeeding  generation  another  nectarine  from  this  nectarine.40  Other 
such  instances  have  been  communicated  to  me,  but  they  need  not  be 
given.  Of  the  converse  case,  namely,  of  nectarine-stones  yielding 
peach-trees  (both  free  and  clingstones),  we  have  six  undoubted  in- 
stances recorded  by  Mr.  Rivers ;  and  in  two  of  these  instances  the 
parent  nectarines  had  been  seedlings  from  other  nectarines.41 

With  respect  to  the  more  curious  case  of  full-grown  peach-trees 
suddenly  producing  nectarines  by  bud-variation  (or  sports  as  they  are 
called  by  gardeners^,  the  evidence  is  superabundant ;  there  is  also 
good  evidence  of  the  same  tree  producing  both  peaches  and  necta- 
rines, or  half  and  half  fruit ; — by  this  term  I  mean  a  fruit  with  the 
one-half  a  perfect  peach,  and  the  other  half  a  perfect  nectarine. 

Peter  Collinson  in  1741  recorded  the  first  case  of  a  peach-tree  pro- 
ducing a  nectarine,42  and  in  1766  he  added  two  other  instances.  In 
the  same  work,  the  editor,  Sir  J.  E.  Smith,  describes  the  more  re- 
markable case  of  a  tree  in  Norfolk,  which  usually  bore  both  perfect 
nectarines  and  perfect  peaches ;  but  during  two  seasons  some  of  the 
fruit  were  half-and-half  in  nature. 

Mr.  Salisbury  in  1808 43  records  six  other  cases  of  peach-trees  pro- 
ducing nectarines.  Three  of  the  varieties  are  named  ;  viz.,  the  Al- 
berge,  Belle  Chevreuse,  and  Royal  George.  This  latter  tree  seldom 
failed  to  produce  both  kinds  of  fruit.  He  gives  another  case  of  a 
half-and-half  fruit. 

At  Radford  in  Devonshire44  a  clingstone  peach,  purchased  as  the 
Chancellor,  was  planted  in  1815,  and  in  1824,  after  having  previous- 
ly produced  peaches  alone,  bore  on  one  branch  twelve  nectarines ; 
in  1825  the  same  branch  yielded  twenty-six  nectarines,  and  in  1826 


87  'Transact.  Hort,  Soc.,'  vol.  vl.   p.  1S59,  p.  774;  1862,   p.   1195;    1S65,  p. 
394  1059;  and  'Journal  of  Hort.,'  1866,   p. 

88  Downing's  '  Fruit  Trees,'  p.  502.  102.                                                           / 
SD   '  Gardener's    Chronicle,'  1862,   p.  42  '  Correspondence  of  Linnasus,'  1S21, 

1195.  pp.  7,  8,  70. 

'10  'Journal of  Horticulture,'  Feb.  6th,  *3  'Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,' vol.  i.  p.  103. 

1866,  p.  102.  44  Loudon's  '  Gardener's  Mag.,'  1826, 

41  Mr.  Rivers,  in  '  Gardener's  Chron.,'  vol.  1.  p,  471. 


Chap.  X  PEACH    AND    NECTARINE.  411 

thirty-six  nectarines  together  'with  eighteen  peaches.  One  of  the 
peaches  was  almost  as  smooth  on  one  side  as  a  nectarine.  The  nec- 
tarines were  as  dark  as,  but  smaller  than,  the  Elrugc. 

At  Beccles  a  Royal  George  peach'15  produced  a  fruit,  "three  parts 
of  it  being  peach  and  one  part  nectarine,  quite  distinct  in  appear- 
ance as  well  as  in  flavour."  The  lines  of  division  were  longitudinal, 
as  represented  in  the  engraving.  A  nectarine-tree  grew  five  yards 
from  this  tree. 

Professor  Chapman  states10  that  he  has  often  seen  in  Virginia 
very  old  peach-trees  bearing  nectarines. 

A  -writer  in  the  'Gardener's  Chronicle'  says  that  a  peach-tree 
planted  fifteen  years  previously47  produced  this  year  a  nectarine 
between  two  peaches ;  a  nectarine-tree  grew  close  by. 

In  1844  1S  a  Vanguard  peach-tree  produced,  in  the  midst  of  its  or- 
dinary fruit,  a  single  red  Roman  nectarine. 

Mr.  Calver  is  stated  M  to  have  raised  in  the  United  States  a  seed- 
ling peach  which  produced  a  mixed  crop  of  both  peaches  and  necta- 
rines. 

Near  Dorking  "  a  branch  of  the  Teton  de  Venus  peach,  which  re- 
produces itself  truly  by  seed,61  bore  its  own  fruit  -  so  remarkable  for 
its  prominent  point,  and  a  nectarine  rather  smaller  but  well  formed 
and  quite  round." 

The  previous  cases  all  refer  to  peaches  suddenly  producing  nec- 
tarines, but  at  Carclew52  the  unique  case  occurred,  of  a  nectarine- 
tree,  raised  twenty  years  before  from  seed  and  never  grafted,  pro- 
ducing a  fruit  half  peach  and  half  nectarine  ;  subsequently  it  bore  a 
perfect  peach. 

To  sum  up  the  foregoing  facts:  we  have  excellent  evidence  of 
peach-stones  producing  nectarine-trees,  and  of  nectarine-stones  pro- 
ducing peach-trees, — of  the  same  tree  bearing  peaches  and  necta- 
rines,— of  peach-trees  suddenly  producing  by  bud-variation  necta- 
rines (such  nectarines  reproducing  nectarines  by  seed),  as  well  as 
fruit  in  part  nectarine  and  in  part  peach, — and  lastly  of  one  nec- 
tarine-tree first  bearing  half-and-half  fruit,  and  subsequently  true 
peaches.  As  the  peach  came  into  existence  before  the  nectarine,  it 
might  have  been  expected  from  the  law  of  reversion  that  nectarines 
would  give  birth  by  bud-variation  or  by  seed  to  peaches,  oftener 
than  peaches  to  nectarines ;  but  this  is  by  no  means  the  case. 


46  Loudon's  'Gardener's  Mag.,'  132S,  49  ' Phytologist,'  vol.  iv.  p.  299. 

p.  53.  so  '  Gardener's  Chron.,'  1S56,  p.  531. 

49  Ibid.,  1830,  p.  597.  »»  Godron,   'De  l'Espece,'  torn.  ii.  p. 

47  'Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1841,  p.  61T.  97. 

18  '  Gardener's  Chroniele,'  1814,  p.  589.  52  '  Gardener's  Chron.,'  1S5G,  p.  531. 


412  FEUITS.  Chap.  X. 

Two  explanations  have  been  suggested  to  account  for  these  con- 
versions. First,  that  the  parent-trees  have  been  in  every  case  hy- 
brids63 between  the  peach  and  nectarine,  and  have  reverted  by  bud- 
variation  or  by  seed  to  one  of  their  pure  parent-forms.  This  view 
in  itself  is  not  very  improbable  ;  for  the  Mountaineer  peach,  which 
was  raised  by  Knight  from  the  red  nutmeg  peach  by  pollen  of  the 
violette  hative  nectarine,54  produces  peaches,  but  these  are  said 
sometimes  to  partake  of  the  smoothness  and  flavour  of  the  necta- 
rine. But  let  it  be  observed  that  in  the  previous  list  no  less  than 
sis  well-known  varieties  and  several  other  unnamed  varieties  of  the 
peach  have  once  suddenly  produced  perfect  nectarines  by  bud-varia- 
tion ;  and  it  would  be  an  extremely  rash  supposition  that  all  these 
varieties  of  the  peach,  which  have  been  cultivated  for  years  in  many 
districts,  and  which  show  not  a  vestige  of  a  mixed  parentage,  are, 
nevertheless,  hybrids.  A  second  explanation  is,  that  the  fruit  of  the 
peach  has  been  directly  affected  by  the  pollen  of  the  nectarine  :  al- 
though this  certainly  is  possible,  it  cannot  here  apply ;  for  we  have 
not  a  shadow  of  evidence  that  a  branch  which  has  borne  fruit  di- 
rectly affected  by  foreign  pollen  is  so  profoundly  modified  as  after- 
wards to  produce  buds  which  continue  to  yield  fruit  of  the  new  and 
modified  form.  Now  it  is  known  that  when  a  bud  on  a  peach-tree 
has  once  borne  a  nectarine  the  same  branch  has  in  several  instances 
gone  on  during  successive  years  producing  nectarines.  The  Car- 
clew  nectarine,  on  the  other  hand,  first  produced  half-and-half  fruit, 
and  subsequently  pure  peaches.  Hence  we  may  confidently  accept 
the  common  view  that  the  nectarine  is  a  variety  of  the  peach,  which 
may  be  produced  either  by  bud-variation  or  from  seed.  In  the  follow- 
ing chapter  many  analogous  cases  of  bud- variation  will  be  given. 

The  varieties  of  the  peach  and  nectarine  run  in  parallel  lines.  In 
both  classes  the  kinds  differ  from  each  other  in  the  flesh  of  the  fruit 
being  white,  red,  or  yellow ;  in  being  clingstones  or  freestones ;  in» 
the  flowers  being  large  or  small,  with  certain  other  characteristic 
differences ;  and  in  the  leaves  being  serrated  without  glands,  or 
crenated  and  furnished  with  globose  or  reniform  glands.65  We  can 
hardly  account  for  this  parallelism  by  supposing  that  each  variety 
of  the  nectarine  is  descended  from  a  corresponding  variety  of  the 
peach  ;  for  though  our  nectarines  are  certainly  the  descendants  of 
several  kinds  of  peaches,  yet  a  large  number  are  the  descendants 
of  other  nectarines,  and  they  vary  so  much  when  thus  reproduced 
that  we  can  scarcely  admit  the  above  explanation. 


83  Alph.    De    Candolle,    '  Geograph.        of  Gardening,'  p.  911. 
Bot.,'p.  886.  65' Catalogue  of  Fruit  in  Garden  of 

M  Thompson,  in  Loudon's  'Encyclop.        Hort.  Soc.,'  1842,  p.  105. 


Ciur.  X.  PEACH    AND    NECTARINE.  413 

The  varieties  of  the  peach  have  largely  increased  in  number 
since  the  Christian  era.  when  from  two  to  five  varieties  alone  were 
known  ; 5B  and  the  nectarine  was  unknown.  At  the  present  time, 
besides  many  varieties  said  to  exist  in  China,  Downing  describes  in 
the  United  States  seventy-nine  native  and  imported  varieties  of  the 
peach ;  and  a  few  years  ago  Lindley 57  enumerated  one  hundred  and 
sixty-four  varieties  of  the  peach  and  nectarine  grown  in  England. 
I  have  already  indicated  the  chief  points  of  difference  between  the 
several  varieties.  Nectarines,  even  when  produced  from  distinct 
kinds  of  peaches,  always  possess  their  own  peculiar  flavour,  and  are 
smooth  and  small.  Clingstone  and  freestone  peaches,  which  differ 
in  the  ripe  flesh  either  firmly  adhering  to  the  stone,  or  easily  sepa- 
rating from  it,  also  differ  in  the  character  of  the  stone  itself;  that 
of  the  freestones  or  melters  being  more  deeply  fissured,  with  the 
sides  of  the  fissures  smoother  than  in  clingstones.  In  the  various 
kinds,  the  flowers  differ  not  only  in  size,  but  in  the  larger  flowers 
the  petals  are  differently  shaped,  more  imbricated,  generally  red  in 
the  centre  and  pale  towards  the  margin ;  whereas  in  the  smaller 
flowers  the  margins  of  the  petal  are  usually  more  darkly  coloured. 
One  variety  has  nearly  white  flowers.  The  leaves  are  more  or  le33 
serrated,  and  are  either  destitute  of  glands,  or  have  globose  or  reni 
form  glands ; 58  and  some  few  peaches,  such  as  the  Brugnon,  bear 
on  the  same  tree  both  globular  and  kidney-shaped  glands.5"  Ac- 
cording to  Robertson 60  the  trees  with  glandular  leaves  are  liable  to 
blister,  but  not  in  any  great  degree  to  mildew ;  whilst  the  non- 
glandular  trees  are  more  subject  to  curl,  to  mildew,  and  tp  the 
attacks  of  aphides.  The  varieties  differ  in  the  period  of  their  ma- 
turity, in  the  fruit  keeping  well,  and  in  hardiness, — the  latter  cir- 
cumstance being  especially  attended  to  in  the  United  States.  Cer- 
tain varieties,  such  as  the  Bellegarde,  stand  forcing  in  hot-houses 
better  than  other  varieties.  The  flat-peach  of  China  is  the  most 
remarkable  of  all  the  varieties ;  it  is  so  much  depressed  towards 
the  summit,  that  the  stone  is  here  covered  only  by  roughened  skin 
and  not  by  a  fleshy  layer.61  Another  Chinese  variety,  called  the 
Honey-peach,  is  remarkable  from  the  fruit  terminating  in  a  long 


88  Dr.  A.  Targioni-Tozzetti,   '  Journal  1S65,  p.  1154. 

Hort.  Soc.,'   vol.  ix.   p.  16T.    Alph.  De  eo  '  Transact.  Ilort.  Soc.,'  vol.  iii.  p. 

Candolle,  '  Geograph.  Bot.,'  p.  885.  332.    See  also   '  Gardener's   Chronicle,' 

67  '  Transact.   Hort.   Soc.,'   vol.  v.  p.  1S65,    p.    271,    to    same    effect.     Also 
554.  '  Journal  of  Horticulture,'   Sept.   26th, 

68  Loudon's  '  Encyclop.  of  Gardening,'  1S65,  p.  254. 

P.  907.  oi  '  Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  iv.  p. 

e»  M.   Carriere,    in    '  Gard.    Chron  ,'  512. 


414  ■  FEUITS.  Chap..X 

sharp  point ;  its  leaves  are  glandless  and  widely  dentate.61"  The 
Emperor  of  Russia  peach  is  a  third  singular  variety,  having  deeply 
and  doubly  serrated  leaves  ;  the  fruit  is  deeply  cleft  with  one-half 
projecting  considerably  beyond  the  other  ;  it  originated  in  America, 
and  its  seedlings  inherit  similar  leaves.63 

The  peach  has  also  produced  in  China  a  small  class  of  trees 
valued  for  ornament,  namely  the  double-flowered ;  of  these  five 
varieties  are  now  known  in  England,  varying  from  pure  white, 
through  rose,  to  intense  crimson.64  One  of  these  varieties,  called 
the  camellia-flowered,  bears  flowers  above  2£  inches  in  diameter, 
whilst  those  of  the  fruit-bearing  kinds  do  not  at  most  exceed  1J 
inch  in  diameter.  The  flowers  of  the  double-flowered  peaches  have 
the  singular  property65  of  frequently  producing  double  or  treble 
fruit.  Finally,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  peach  is  an 
almond  profoundly  modified ;  but  whatever  its  origin  may  have 
been,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  has  yielded  during  the  last 
eighteen  centuries  many  varieties,  some  of  them  strongly  character- 
ised, belonging  both  to  the  nectarine  and  peach  form. 

Apricot  (Prunus  armeniaca). — It  is  commonly  admitted  that  this 
tree  is  descended  from  a  single  species,  now  found  wild  in  the  Cauca- 
sian region.06  On  this  view  the  varieties  deserve  notice,  because 
they  illustrate  differences  supposed  by  some  botanists  to  be  of  spe- 
cific value  in  the  almond  and  plum.  The  best  monograph  on  the 
apricot  is  by  Mr.  Thompson,67  who  describes  seventeen  varieties. 
We  have  seen  that  peaches  and  nectarines  vary  in  a  strictly  parallel 
manner ;  and  in  the  apricot,  which  forms  a  closely  allied  genus,  we 
again 'meet  with  variations  analogous  to  those  of  the  peach,  as  well 
as  to  those  of  the  plum.  The  varieties  differ  considerably  in  the 
shape  of  their  leaves,  which  are  either  serrated  or  crenated,  some- 
times with  ear-like  appendages  at  their  bases,  and  sometimes  with 
glands  on  the  petioles.  The  flowers  are  generally  alike,  but  are 
small  in  the  Masculine.  The  fruit  varies  much  in  size,  shape,  and 
in  having  the  suture  little  pronounced  or  absent ;  in  the  skin  being 
smooth,  or  downy  as  in  the  orange-apricot ;  and  in  the  flesh  cling- 
ing to  the  stone,  as  in  the  last-mentioned  kind,  or  in  readily  sepa- 
rating from  it,  as  in  the  Turkey-apricot.  In  all  these  differences  we 
see  the  closest  analogy  with  the  varieties  of  the  peach  and  nectarine. 


62  '  Journal    of    Horticulture,'    Sept.        283. 

8th,  1S63,  p.  1S8.  co  Alpn.    De    Candolle,     '  Geograph. 

63 'Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  vi.  p.        Bot,,  p.  879. 

412.  «'  '  Transact.  Hort.  Soc.'  (2nd  series), 

e4  '  Gardener's   Chronicle,'    1S57,  p.        vol.   i.,  1835,  p.  56.    See  also  '  Cat.  of 

216.  Fruit    in    Garden    of   Hort.    Soc.,'   3rd 

66  'Journal  of  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  ii.  p.        edit.,  1S42. 


Chap.  X.  APRICOT PLUMS.  415 

In  the  stone  we  have  more  important  differences,  and  these  in  the 
case  of  the  plum  have  been  esteemed  of  specific  value :  in  some 
apricots  the  stone  is  almost  spherical,  in  others  much  flattened,  being 
either  sharp  in  front  or  blunt  at  both  ends,  sometimes  channelled 
along  the  back,  or  with  a  sharp  ridge  along  both  margins.  In  the 
Moor-park,  and  generally  in  the  Ilemskirke,  the  stone  presents  a 
singular  character  in  being  perforated,  with  a  bundle  of  fibres  pass- 
ing through  the  perforation  from  end  to  end.  The  most  constant 
and  important  character,  according  to  Thompson,  is  whether  the 
kernel  if  bitter  or  sweet ;  yet  in  this  respect  we  have  a  graduated 
difference,  for  the  kernel  is  very  bitter  in  Shipley's  apricot ;  in  the 
Hemskirke  less  better  than  in  some  other  kinds  :  slightly  bitter  in 
the  Royal ;  and  "  sweet  like  a  hazel-nut"  in  the  Breda,  Angoumois, 
and  others.  In  the  case  of  the  almond,  bitterness  has  been  thought 
by  some  high  authorities  to  indicate  specific  difference. 

In  N.  America  the  Roman  apricot  endures  "  cold  and  unfavourable 
situations,  where  no  other  sort,  except  the  Masculine,  will  succeed ; 
and  its  blossoms  bear  quite  a  severe  frost  without  injury."68  Ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Rivers G9  seedling  apricots  deviate  but  little  from  the 
character  of  their  race  :  in  France  the  Alberge  is  constantly  repro- 
duced from  seed  with  but  little  variation.  In  Ladakh;  according  to 
Moorcroft,70  ten  varieties  of  the  apricot,  very  different  from  each 
other,  are  cultivated,  and  all  are  raised  from  seed,  excepting  one, 
which  is  budded. 

Plums  {Pvunus  insititia). — Formerly  the  sloe,  P.  spinosa,  was 
thought  to  be  the  parent  of  all  our  plums  ;  but  now  this  honour  is 
very  commonly  accorded  to  P.  insititia  or  the  bullace,  which  is 
found  wild  in  the  Caucasus  and  N  .-Western  India,  and  is  natural- 
ised in  England.71  It  is  not  at  all  improbable,  in  accordance  with 
some  observations  made  by  Mr.  Rivers,72  that  both  these  forms, 
which  some  botanists  rank  as  a  single  species,  may  be  the  parents 
of  our  domesticated  plums.  Another  supposed  parent-form,  the 
P.  domestica,  is  said  to  be  found  wild  in  the  region  of  the  Caucasus. 
Godron  remarks 73  that  the  cultivated  varieties  may  be  divided  into 
two  main  groups,  which  he  supposes  to  be  descended  from  two 


68  Downing,  '  The  Fruits  of  America,'  Britannica,'  vol.  iv.  p.  80. 

1845,  p.  157 ;  with  respect  to  the  Alberge  72  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1SG5,  p.  27. 

apricot  in  France,  see  p.  153.  73  '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  ii.  p.  91.    On 

*»  'Gardener's    Chronicle,'    1SG3,    p.  the  parentage   of  our   plums,  see   also 

364.  Alph.  De  Candolle,  '  Geograph  Bot.,'  p. 

70  'Travels    in    the    llimalayan  Pro-  878.      Also  Targioni-Tozzetti,    'Journal 
vinces,'  vol.  i.,  1841,  p.  295.  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  ix.  p.  104.  Also  Bablng- 

71  See  an  excellent  discussion  on  this  ton,  '  Manual  of  Brit.  Botany,'  1851,  p. 
subject  in  Ilewett  C.  Watson's  'Cybele  87. 


416 


FETJITS. 


Chap.  X. 


aboriginal  stocks;  namely,  those  with  oblong  fruit  and  stones 
pointed  at  both  ends,  having  narrow  separate  petals  and  upright 
branches ;  and  those  with  rounded  fruit,  with  stones  blunt  at  both 
ends,  with  rounded  petals  and  spreading  branches.  From  what  we 
know  of  the  variability  of  the  flowers  in  the  peach  and  of  the  di- 


5  6  7 

Fig.  43. — Plum  Stones,  of  natural  size,  viewed  laterally.  1.  Bullace  Plum.  2 
shire  Damson.  3.  Blue  Gage.  4.  Orleans.  5.  Elvas.  C.  Denver's  Victoria, 
mond. 


Shrop- 
7.  Dia- 


versified  manner  of  growth  in  our  various  fruit-trees,  it  is  difficult 
to  lay  much  weight  on  these  latter  characters.  With  respect  to  the 
shape  of  the  fruit,  we  have  conclusive  evidence  that  it  is  extremely 
variable  :  Downing74  gives  outlines  of  the  plums  of  two  seedlings, 
namely,  the  red  and  imperial  gages,  raised  from  the  greengage  ; 
and  the  fruit  of  both  is  more  elongated  than  that  of  the  greengage. 
The  latter  has  a  very  blunt  broad  stone,  whereas  the  stone  of  the 
imperial  gage  is  "  oval  and  pointed  at  both  ends."  These  trees  also 
differ  in  their  manner  of  growth  :  "  the  greengage  is  a  very  short- 
jointed,  slow-growing  tree,  of  spreading  and  rather  dwarfish  habit ;" 
whilst  its  offspring,  the  imperial  gage,  "  grows  freely  and  rises 
rapidly,  and   has   long   dark   shoots."      The  famous  Washington 


7*  'Fruits  of  America,'  pp.  276,  278, 
314,  2S4,  276,  310.  Mr.  Rivers  raised 
('Gard.  Cbron  ,'  1863,  p.  27)  from  the 
Prune-peche,  which  bears  large,  round, 


red  plums  on  stout  robust  shoots,  a  seed- 
ling which  bears  oval,  smaller  fruit  on 
shoots  that  are  so  slender  as  to  be  almost 
pendulous. 


Chap.  X.  PLUMS.  417 

plum  bears  a  globular  fruit,  but  its  offspring,  tbe  emerald  drop,  is 
nearly  as  much  elongated  as  the  most  elongated  plum  figured  by 
Downing,  namely,  Manning's  prune.  I  have  made  a  small  collec- 
tion of  the  stones  of  twenty-five  kinds,  and  they  graduate  in  shape 
from  the  bluntest  into  the  sharpest  kinds.  As  characters  derived 
from  seeds  are  generally  of  high  systematic  importance,  I  have 
thought  it  worth  while  to  give  drawings  of  the  most  distinct  kinds 
in  my  small  collection  ;  and  they  may  be  seen  to  differ  in  a  surpris- 
ing manner  in  size,  outline,  thickness,  prominence  of  the  ridges,  and 
state  of  surface.  It  deserves  notice  that  the  shape  of  the  stone  is 
not  always  strictly  correlated  with  that  of  the  fruit :  thus  the 
Washington  plum  is  spherical  and  depressed  at  the  pole,  with  a 
somewhat  elongated  stone,  whilst  the  fruit  of  the  Goliath  is  more 
elongated,  but  the  stone  less  so,  than  in  the  Washington.  Again, 
Denver's  Victoria  and  Goliath  bear  fruit  closely  resembling  each 
other,  but  their  stones  are  widely  different.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Harvest  and  Black  Margate  plums  are  very  dissimilar,  yet  include 
clpsely  similar  stones. 

The  varieties  of  the  plum  are  numerous,  and  differ  greatly  in 
size,  shape,  quality,  and  colour, — being  bright  yellow,  green,  almost 
white,  blue,  purple,  or  red.  There  are  some  curious  varieties,  such 
as  the  double  or  Siamese,  and  the  Stoneless  plum  :  in  the  latter  the 
kernel  lies  in  a  roomy  cavity  surrounded  only  by  the  pulp.  The 
climate  of  North  America  appears  to  be  singularly  favourable  for 
the  production  of  new  and  good  varieties ;  Downing  describes  no 
less  than  forty,  seven  of  which  of  first-rate  quality  have  been  recent- 
ly introduced  into  England.75  Varieties  occasionally  arise  having 
an  innate  adaptation  for  certain  soils,  almost  as  strongly  pronounc- 
ed as  with  natural  species  growing  on  the  most  distinct  geological 
formations  ;  thus  in  America  the  imperial  gage,  differently  from  al- 
most all  other  kinds,  "  is  pectdiarily  fitted  for  dry  light  soils  where 
many  sorts  drop  their  fruit,"  whereas  on  rich  heavy  soils  the  fruit  is 
often  insipid.76  My  father  could  never  succeed  in  making  the 
Wine-Sour  yield  even  a  moderate  crop  in  a  sandy  orchard  near 
Shrewsbury,  whilst  in  some  parts  of  the  same  county  and  in  its  na- 
tive Yorkshire  it  bears  abundantly :  one  of  my  relations  also  re- 
peatedly tried  in  vain  to  grow  this  variety  in  a  sandy  district  in 
Staffordshire. 

Mr.  Rivers  has  ffiven77  a  number  of  interesting  facts,  showing 


76  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1855,  p.  726.  enumerates  five  kinds  which  can  be  pro- 

76  Downing's  '  Fruit  Trees,'  p.  278.  pagate.l   in   France  by  seed  :    see  also 

77  'Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1803,  p.  27.  Downing's  '^ruit  Trees  cf  America,'  p. 
Sageret,  in  his  '  Pomologie  Phys.,'  p.  34G,  305,  312,  &c. 


418  FRUITS.  Chap.  X. 

how  truly  many  varieties  can  be  propagated  by  seed.  He  sowed  the 
stones  of  twenty  bushels  of  the  greengage  for  the  sake  of  raising 
Stocks,  and  closely  observed  the  seedlings ;  "  all  had  the  smooth 
shoots,  the  prominent  buds,  and  the  glossy  leaves  of  the  greengage, 
but  the  greater  number  had  smaller  leaves  and  thorns."  There  are 
two  kinds  of  damson,  one  the  Shropshire  with  downy  shoots,  and 
the  other  the  Kentish  with  smooth  shoots,  and  these  differ  but 
slightly  in  any  other  respect :  Mr.  Rivers  sowed  some  bushels  of  the 
Kentish  damson,  and  all  the  seedlings  had  smooth  shoots,  but  in 
some  the  fruit  was  oval,  in  others  round  or  roundish,  and  in  a  few 
the  fruit  was  small,  and,  except  in  being  sweet,  closely  resembled 
that  of  the  wild  sloe.  Mr.  Rivers  gives  several  other  striking  in- 
stances of  inheritance  :  thus,  he  raised  eighty  thousand  seedlings 
from  the  common  German  Quetsche  plum,  and  "  not  one  could  be 
found  varying  in  the  least,  in  foliage  or  habit."  Similar  facts  were 
observed  with  the  Petite  Mirabello  plum,  yet  this  latter  kind  (as 
well  as  the  Quetsche)  is  known  to  have  yielded  some  well-established 
varieties ;  but,  as  Mr.  Rivers  remarks,  they  all  belong  to  the  same  ■ 
group  with  the  Mirabelle. 

Cherries  (Prunus  cerasus,  avium,  &c). — Botanists  believe  that  our 
cultivated  cherries  are  descended  from  one,  two,  four,  or  even  more 
wild  stocks.78  That  there  must  be  at  least  two  parent-species  we 
may  infer  from  the  sterility  of  twenty  hybrids  raised  by  Mr.  Knight 
from  the  morello  fertilized  by  pollen  of  the  Elton  cherry ;  for  these 
hybrids  produced  in  all  only  five  cherries,  and  one  alone  of  these  con- 
tained a  seed.79  Mr.  Thompson80  has  classified  the  varieties  in  an 
apparently  natural  method  in  two  main  groups  by  characters  taken 
from  the  flowers,  fruit,  and  leaves ;  but  some  varieties  which  stand 
widely  separate  in  this  classification  are  quite  fertile  when  crossed  ; 
thus  Knight's  Early  Black  cherry  is  the  product  of  a  cross  between 
two  such  kinds. 

Mr.  Knight  states  that  seedling  cherries  are  more  variable  than 
those  of  any  other  fruit-tree.81  In  the  Catalogue  of  the  Horticultural 
Society  for  1842,  eighty  varieties  arc  enumerated.  Some  varieties 
present  singular  characters :  thus  the  flower  of  the  Cluster  cherry 
inchides  as  many  as  twelve  pistils,  of  which  the  majority  abort ;  and 
they  are  said  generally  to  produce  from  two  to  five  or  six  cherries 
aggregated  together  and  borne  on  a  single  peduncle.    In  the  Ratafia 


™  Compare  Alph.  De  Candolle,  '  Geo-  79  '  Transact.  Hort.  Soc.'  vol.  v.,  1S24, 

graph.  Bot.,'  p.  $77  ;  Bentuam  and  Tar-  p.  295. 

gioni-Tozzetti,  in  '  Hort.   Journal,'  vol.  eo  Ibid.,   second  series,  vol.  i.,   1835, 

ix.  p.  1C3  ;  Godrou,  '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  p.  2-1S. 

ii.  p.  92.  8I  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  138. 


Chap.  X.  APPLES.  419 

cherry  scj-eral  flower-peduncles  arise  from  a  common  peduncle,  up- 
wards of  an  inch  in  length.  The  fruit  of  Gascoigne's  Heart  has  its 
apex  produced  into  a  globule  or  drop  :  that  of  the  white  Hungarian 
Gean  has  almost  transparent  Mesh.  The  Flemish  cherry  is  '"a  very 
odd-looking  fruit,"  much  flattened  at  the  summit  and  base,  with  the 
latter  deeply  furrowed,  and  borne  on  a  stout  very  short  footstalk. 
In  the  Kentish  cherry  the  stone  adheres  so  firmly  to  the  footstalk, 
that  it  can  be  drawn  out  of  the  flesh  :  and  this  renders  the  fruit 
well  fitted  for  drying.  The  Tobacco-leaved  cherry,  according  to 
Sageret  and  Thompson,  produces  gigantic  leaves,  more  than  a  foot 
and  sometimes  even  eighteen  inches  in  length,  and  half  a  foot  in 
breadth.  The  Weeping  cherry,  on  the.other  hand,  is  valuable  only 
as  an  ornament,  and,  according  to  Downing,  is  "a  charming  little 
tree  with  slender  weeping  branches,  clothed  with  small  almost 
myrtle-like  foliage."     There  is  also  a  peach-leaved  variety. 

Sageret  describes  a  remarkable  variety,  le  griottier  de  la  Toussaint, 
which  bears  at  the  same  time,  even  as  late  as  September,  flowers 
and  fruit  of  all  degrees  of  maturity.  The  fruit,  which  is  of  inferior 
quality,  is  borne  on  long,  very  thin  footstalks.  But  the  extraordi- 
nary statement  is  made  that  all  the  leaf-bearing  shoots  spring  from 
old  flower-buds.  Lastly,  there  is  an  important  physiological  dis- 
tinction between  those  kinds  of  cherries  which  bear  fruit  on  young 
or  on  old  wood ;  but  Sageret  positively  asserts  that  a  Bigarreau  in 
his  garden  bore  fruit  on  wood  of  both  ages.62 

Apple  {Pyrus  mains). — The  one  source  of  doubt  felt  by  botanists 
with  respect  to  the  parentage  of  the  apple  is  whether,  besides  P. 
mahis,  two  or  three  other  closely  allied  wild  forms,  namely,  P. 
aeerb'i  and  pracox  or  pa/radidaca,  do  not  deserve  to  be  ranked  as 
distinct  species.  The  P.  pracox  is  supposed  by  some  authors'3  to  be 
the  parent  of  the  dwarf  paradise  stock,  which,  owing  to  the  fibrous 
roots  not  penetrating  deeply  into  the  ground,  is  so  largely  used  for 
graftine- :  but  the  paradise  stock,  it  is  asserted,84  cannot  be  propa- 
gated true  by  seed.     The  common  wild  crab  varies  considerably  in 


*5  These  several  statements  are  taken  nearly  sessile  fruit,  ranges  farther  south 

from  the  four  following  works,  which  than  the  long-stalked  P.  acerba,  which 

may,  I  believe,  be  trusted.     Thompson,  is  entirely  absent  in  Madeira,  the  Cana- 

in  'Hort.  Transact.,'  see  above;  Sage-  ries,  and  apparently  in  Portugal.     This 

ret's  '  Pomologie  Phys.,'  1S30,  pp.  3oS,  fact  supports  the  belief  that  these  two 

864,  367,  379 ;  '  Catalogue  of  the  Fruit  in  forms  deserve  to  be  called  species.    But 

the  Garden  of  Hort.  Soc.,'  1S42,  pp.  07,  the   characters   separating  them  are  of 

60 ;  Downing,  '  The  Fruits  of  America,'  slight  importance,  and  of  a  kind  known 

1>4.">.  pp.  ISO,  195,  200.  to  vary  in  other  cultivated  fruit-trees. 

43  Mr.  Lowe  states  in  his  'Flora  of  8*  See  '  Joura.  of  Hort.  Tour.,'  by  De- 
Madeira'  (quoted  in  '  Gard.  Chron.,'  putation  of  the  Caledonian  Hort.  Soc, 
1863,  p.  215)  that  the  P.  mains,  with  its  1S23,  p.  459. 


420  FRUITS.  Chap.  X. 

England ;  but  many  of  the  varieties  are  believed  to  be  escrfped  seed- 
lings.65 Every  one  knows  the  great  difference  in  the  manner  of 
growth,  in  the  foliago,  flowers,  and  especially  in  the  fruit,  between 
the  almost  innumerable  varieties  of  the  apple.  The  pips  or  seeds 
(as  I  know  by  comparison)  likewise  differ  considerably  in  shape,  size, 
and  colour.  The  fruit  is  adapted  for  eating  or  for  cooking  in  differ- 
ent ways,  and  keeps  for  only  a  few  weeks  or  for  nearly  two  years. 
Some  few  kinds  have  the  fruit  covered  with  a  powdery  secretion, 
called  bloom,  like  that  on  plums ;  and  "  it  is  extremely  remarkable 
that  this  occurs  almost  exclusively  among  varieties  cultivated  in 
Russia."86  Another  Russian  apple,  the  white  Astracan,  possesses  the 
singular  property  of  becoming  transparent,  when  ripe,  like  some 
sorts  of  crabs.  The  api  etoile  has  five  prominent  ridges,  hence  its 
name ;  the  api  noir  is  nearly  black :  the  twin  cluster  pippin  often 
bears  fruit  joined  in  pairs.87  The  trees  of  the  several  sorts  differ 
greatly  in  their  periods  of  leafing  and  flowering ;  in  my  orchard  the 
Court  Pendu  Plat  produces  its  leaves  so  late,  that  during  several 
springs  I  have  thought  it  dead.  The  Tiffin  apple  scarcely  bears  a 
leaf  when  in  full  bloom  ;  the  Cornish  crab,  on  the  other  hand,  bears 
so  many  leaves  at  this  period  ^hat  the  flowers  can  hardly  be  seen.88 
In  some  kinds  the  fruit  ripens  in  midsummer  ;  in  others,  late  in  the 
autumn.  These  several  differences  in  leafing,  flowering,  and  fruit- 
ing, are  not  at  all  necessarily  correlated  ;  for,  as  Andrew  Knight  has 
remarked,89  no  one  can  judge  from  the  early  flowering  of  a  new 
seedling,  or  from  the  early,  shedding  or  change  of  colour  of  the 
leaves,  whether  it  will  mature  its  fruit  early  in  the  season. 

The  varieties  differ  greatly  in  constitution.  It  is  notorious  that 
our  summers  are  not  hot  enough  for  the  Newtown  Pippin,90  which 
is  the  glory  of  the  orchards  near  New  York  ;  and  so  it  is  with  seve- 
ral varieties  which  we  have  imported  from  the  Continent.  On  the 
other  hand,  our  Court  of  Wick  succeeds  well  under  the  severe  cli- 
mate of  Canada.  The  Calville  rouge  de  Micoud  occasionally  bears 
two  crops  during  the  same  year.  The  Burr  Knot  is  covered  with 
small  excrescences,  which  emit  roots  so  readily  that  a  branch  with 
blossom-buds  may  be  stuck  in  the  ground,  and  will  root  and  bear 


86  H.  C.  Watson,  '  Cybele  Britannica,'  vol.  iv.,  1828,  p.  112. 

vol.  i.  p.  334.  89  '  The  Culture  of  the  Apple,1  p.  43. 

88  Loudon's  '  Gardener's    Mag.,'  vol.  Van  Mons  makes  the  same  remark  on 

vi.,  1S30,  p.  83.  the    pear,   'Arbres    Fruitiers,'   torn,  ii., 

87  See  '  Catalogue  of  Fruit  in  Garden  1836,  p.  414. 

of    Hort.    Soc.,'    1842,    and    Downing's  90  Lindley's    '  Horticulture,'   p.   116. 

American  Fruit  Trees.'  See  also  Knight  on  the  Apple-Tree,  in 

88  Loudon's    '  Gardener's    Magazine,'  '  Transact,  of  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  vi.  p.  229. 


Chap.  X. 


APPLES.  421 


a  few  fruit  eveu  during  the  first  year.91  Mr.  Rivers  lias  recently  de- 
scribed n  some  seedlings  valuable  from  their  roots  running  near  the 
surface.  One  of  these  seedlings  was  remarkable  from  its  extremely 
dwarfed  size,  "  forming  itself  into  a  bush  only  a  few  inches  in 
height."  Many  varieties  are  particularly  liable  to  canker  in  cer- 
tain soils.  But  perhaps  the  strangest  constitutional  peculiarity  is 
that  the  Winter  Majetin  is  not  attacked  by  the  mealy  bug  or  coccus  ; 
Lindley 93  states  that  in  an  orchard  in  Norfolk  infested  with  these 
insects  the  Majetin  was  quite  free,  though  the  stock  on  which  it 
was  grafted  was  affected ;  Knight  makes  a  similar  statement  with 
respect  to  a  cider  apple,  and  adds  that  he  only  once  saw  these  in- 
sects just  above  the  stock,  but  that  three  days  afterwards  they  en- 
tirely disappeared ;  this  apple,  however,  was  raised  from  a  cross  be- 
tween the  Golden  Hervey  and  the  Siberian  Crab ;  and  the  latter,  I 
believe,  is  considered  by  some  authors  as  specifically  distinct. 

The  famous  St.  Valery  apple  must  not  be  passed  over  ;  the  flower 
has  a  double  calyx  with  ten  divisions,  and  fourteen  styles  surmounted 
by  conspicuous  oblique  stigmas,  but  is  destitute  of  stamens  or  corolla. 
The  fruit  is  constricted  round  the  middle,  and  is  formed  of  five  seed- 
cells,  surmounted  by  nine  other  eells.9^  Not  being  provided  with 
stamens,  the  tree  requires  artificial  fertilisation ;  and  the  girls  of 
St.  Valery  annually  go  to  "faire  ses  pommes,"  each  marking  her 
own  fruit  with  a  ribbon  ;  and  as  different  pollen  is  used,  the  fruit 
differs,  and  we  here  have  an  instance  of  the  direct  action  of  foreign 
pollen  on  the  mother-plant.  These  monstrous  apples  include,  as  we 
have  seen,  fourteen  seed-cells  ;  the  pigeon-apple,95  on  the  other  hand, 
has  only  four,  instead  of,  as  with  all  common  apples,  five  cells ;  and 
this  certainly  is  a  remarkable  difference. 

In  the  catalogue  of  apples  published  in  1842  by  the  Horticultural 
Society.  897  varieties  are  enumerated;  but  the  differences  between 
most  of  them  are  of  comparatively  little  interest,  as  they  are  not 
strictly  inherited.  No  one  can  raise,  for  instance,  from  the  seed  of 
the  Ribston  Pippin,  a  tree  of  the  same  kind  ;  and  it  is  said  that  the 
'  Sister  Ribston  Pippin"  was  a  white,  semi-transparent,  sour-fleshed 
apple,  or  rather  large  crab.96  Yet  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
with  most  varieties  the  characters  are  not  to  a  certain  extent  in- 


91  '  Transact.  Hort.  Soc,'  vol.  i.,  1S12,  that  it  was  more  injurious  to  crab-stocks 
p.  120.  than  to  the  apples  grafted  on  them. 

92  'Journal   of   Horticulture,'   March  94  'Mem.  de  la  Soc.  Linn,  de  Paris,' 
13th,  1866,  p.  194.  torn,   iii ,   1S25,    p.   164  ;    and    Seringe, 

93  'Transact,  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  iv.  p.  '  Bulletin  Bot.,' 1S30,  p.  117. 

65.    For  Knight's  case,  see  vol.  vi.  p.  96  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1S49,  p.  24. 

547.     When  the  COCCUS  first  appeared  in  96  R.      Thompson,     in     '  Gardener's 

this  country,  it  is  said  (vol.  ii.  p.  163)  Chron.,'  1S50,  p.  7S8. 


422  FRUITS. 


Chap.  X. 


herited.  In  two  lots  of  seedlings  raised  from  two  well-marked 
kinds,  many  worthless,  crab-like  seedlings  will  appear,  but  it  is  now 
known  that  the  two  lots  not  only  usually  differ  from  each  other,  but 
resemble  to  a  certain  extent  their  parents.  We  see  this  indeed  in 
the  several  sub-groaps  of  Russetts,  Sweetings,  Codlins,  Pearmains, 
Reincttes,  &c.,97  which  are  all  believed,  and  many  are  known,  to  Be 
descended  from  other  varieties  bearing  the  same  names. 

Pears  (Pyrus  communis). — I  need  say  little  on  this  fruit,  which 
varies  much  in  the  wild  state,  and  to  an  extraordinary  degree  when 
cultivated,  in  its  fruit,  flowers,  and  foliage.  One  of  the  most  cele- 
brated botanists  in  Europe;  M.  Decaisne,  has  carefully  studied  the 
many  varieties ; 98  although  he  formerly  believed  that  they  were  de- 
rived from  more  than  one  species,  he  is  now  convinced  that  all  be- 
long to  one.  He  has  arrived  at  this  conclusion  from  finding  in  the 
several  varieties  a  perfect  gradation  between  the  most  extreme 
characters ;  so  perfect  is  this  gradation  that  he  maintains  it  to  be 
impossible  to  classify  the  varieties  by  any  natural  method.  M.  De- 
caisne raised  many  seedlings  from  four  distinct  kinds,  and  has  care- 
fully recorded  the  variations  in  each.  Notwithstanding  this  ex- 
treme degree  of  variability,  it  is  now  positively  known  that  many 
kinds  reproduce  by  seed  the  leading  characters  of  their  race." 

Straioberries  (Fragaria). — This  fruit  is  remarkable  on  account  of 
the  number  of  species  which  have  been  cultivated,  and  from  their 
rapid  improvement  within  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years.  Let  any 
one  compare  the  fruit  of  one  of  the  largest  varieties  exhibited  at 
our  Shows  with  that  of  the  wild  wood  strawberry,  or,  which  will 
be  a  fairer  comparison,  with  the  somewhat  larger  fruit  oj  the  wild 
American  Virginian  Strawberry,  and  he  will  see  what  prodigies 
horticulture  has  effected.100  The  number  of  varieties  has  likewise 
increased  in  a  surprisingly  rapid  manner.  Only  three  kinds  were 
known  in  France,  in  1746,  where  this  fruit  was  early  cultivated.  Iu 
1766  five  species  had  been  introduced,  the  same  which  are  now  cul- 


67  Sageret, '  Pomologie  Physiologique,'  strawberries  are  the  descendants  of  F. 
1830,  p.  263.  Downing's  'Fruit  Trees,'  grandiflora  or  GJiiloensis,  and  I  have 
pp.  130,  134,  139,  &o.  Loudon's  '  Gar-  seen  no  account  of  these  forms  in  their 
dener's  Mag.,'  vol  viii.  p.  317.  Alexis  wild  state.  Methuen's  Scarlet  (Down- 
Jordan,  '  De  l'Origine  des  diverses  Vari-  ing, '  Fruits,'  p.  527)  has  "  immense  fruit 
etes,'  in  '  Mem.  de  l'Acad.  Imp.  de  of  the  largest  size,"  and  belongs  to  the 
Lyon,'  torn,  ii.,  1852,  pp.  95,  114,  'Gar-  section  descended  from -P1.  Yirginiana; 
dener's  Chronicle,'  1850,  pp.  774,  788.  and  the  fruit  of  this  species,  as_  I  hear 

98  '  Comptes  Rendus,'  July  6th,  1S63.  from  Prof.  A.  Gray,  is  only  a  little  larger 

99  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1856,  p.  than  that  of  F.  vesca,  or  our  common 
804 ;  1857,  p.  820  ;  1862,  p.  1195.  wood  strawberry. 

100  Most    of    the    largest    cultivated 


Chap.  X.  STRAWBERRIES.  423 

tivated,  but  only  five  varieties  of  Fragaria  oesca,  with  some  sub-va- 
rieties, had  been  produced.  At  the  present  day  the  varieties  of  the 
several  species  arc  almost  innumerable.  The  species  consist  of, 
firstly,  the  wood  or  Alpine  cultivated  strawberries,  descended  from 
F.  vesca,  a  native  of  Europe  and  of  North  America.  There  are  eight 
wild  European  varices,  as  ranked  by  Duchesne,  of  F.  vesca,  but 
several  of  these  are  considered  species  by  some  botanists.  Secondly, 
the  green  strawberries,  descended  from  the  European  F.  colli  nit, 
and  little  cultivated  in  England.  Thirdly,  the  Hautbois,  from  the 
European  F.  elatior.  Fourthly,  the  Scarlets,  descended  from  F. 
Virginimta,  a  native  of  the  whole  breadth  of  North  America. 
Fifthly,  the  Chili,  descended  from  F.  Chiloensis,  an  inhabitant  of 
the  west  coast  of  the  temperate  part3  both  of  North  and  South 
America.  Lastly,  the  Pines  or  Carolinas  (including  the  old  Blacks), 
which  have  been  ranked  by  most  authors  under  the  name  of  F. 
grandiflora  as  a  distinct  species,  said  to  inhabit  Surinam;  but  this 
is  a  manifest  error.  This  form  is  considered  by  the  highest  autho- 
rity, M.  Gay,  to  be  merely  a  strongly  marked  race  of  F.  Chiloensis.101* 
These  five  or  six  forms  have  been  ranked  by  most  botanists  as  spe- 
cifically distinct ;  but  this  may  be  doubted,  for  Andrew  Knight,102 
who  raised  no  less  than  400  crossed  strawberries,  asserts  that  the  F. 
Virginiana,  Chiloensis  and  grandiflora  "may  be  made  to  breed  to- 
gether indiscriminately,"  and  he  found,  in  accordance  with  the  prin- 
ciple of  analogous  variation,  "  that  similar  varieties  could  be  obtain- 
ed from  the  seeds  of  any  one  of  them." 

Since  Knight's  time  there  is  abundant  and  additional  evidence im 
of  the  extent  to  which  the  American  forms  spontaneously  cross. 
We  owe.  indeed  to  such  crosses  most  of  our  choicest  existing  vari- 
eties. Knight  did  not  succeed  in  crossing  the  European  wood- 
strawberry  with  the  American  Scarlet  or  with  the  Hautbois.  Mr. 
Williams,  of  Pitmaston,  however,  succeeded ;  but  the  hybrid  off- 
spring from  the  Hautbois,  though  fruiting  well,  never  produced 
seed,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  one,  which  reproduced  the  pa- 
rent hybrid  form.104  Major  R.  Trevor  Clarke  informs  me  that  he 
crossed  two  members  of  the  Pine  class  (Myatt's  B.  Queen  and  Keen's 
Seedling),  with  the  wood  and  hautbois,  and  that  in  each  case  he 
raised  only  a  single  seedling ;  one  of  these  fruited,  but  was  almost 


io»  '  Le  Fraisier,'  par  le  Comte  L.  de  1862,  p.  335,  and  1S5S,  p.  172 ;  and  Mr. 

Lambertye.  1864,  p.  50.  Barnet's  paper  in  '  Hort.  Soc.  Transact.,' 

103  'Transact.   Hort.    Soc.,'    vol.    iii.  vol.  vi.,  1826,  p.  170. 

1820,  p.  207.  104  'Transact.    Hort.    Soc.,'    vol.    v., 

103  -See  an  account,  by  Prof.  Decaisne,  1824,  p.  294. 
and  by  others  in  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,' 


424  FRUITS.  Chap.  X. 

barren.  Mr.  W.  Smith,  of  York,  has  raised  similar  hybrids  with 
equally  poor  success.105  We  thus  see106  that  the  European  and 
American  species  can  with  some  difficulty  be  crossed  ;  but  it  is 
improbable  that  hybrids  sufficiently  fertile  to  be  worth  cultivation 
will  ever  be  thus  produced.  This  fact  is  surprising,  as  these  forms 
structurally  are  not  widely  distinct,  and  are  sometimes  connected  in 
the  districts  where  they  grow  wild,  as  I  hear  from  Professor  Asa 
Gray,  by  puzzling  intermediate  forms. 

The  energetic  culture  of  the  strawberry  is  of  recent  date,  and  the 
cultivated  varieties  can  in  most  cases  still  be  classed  under  some  one 
of  the  above  five  native  stocks.  As  the  American  strawberries  cross 
so  freely  and  spontaneously,  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  they  will 
ultimately  become  inextricably  confused.  We  find,  indeed,  that 
horticulturists  at  present  disagree  under  which  class  to  rank  some 
few  of  the  varieties ;  and  a  writer  in  the  '  Bon  Jardinier '  of  1840 
remarks  that  formerly  it  was  possible  to  class  all  of  them  under 
some  one  species,  but  that  now  this  is  quite  impossible  with  the 
American  forms,  the  new  English  varieties  having  completely  filled 
up  the  gaps  between  them.107  The  blending  together  of  two  or 
more  aboriginal  forms,  which  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  has 
occurred  with  some  of  our  anciently  cultivated  productions,  we  now 
see  actually  occurring  with  our  strawberries. 

The  cultivated  species  offer  some  variations  worth  notice.  The 
Black  Prince,  a  seedling  from  Keen's  Imperial  (this  latter  being  a 
seedling  of  a  very  white  strawberry,  the  white  Carolina),  is  remark- 
able from  "  its  peculiar  dark  and  polished  surface,  and  from  present- 
ing an  appearance  entirely  unlike  that  of  any  other  kind.'' 108  Al- 
though the  fruit  in  the  different  varieties  differs  so  greatly  in  form, 
size,  colour,  and  quality,  the  so-called  seed  (which  corresponds  with 
the  whole  fruit  in  the  plum),  with  the  exception  of  being  more  or 
less  deeply  imbedded  in  the  pulp,  is,  according  to  De  Jonghe,109  ab- 
solutely the  same  in  all ;  and  this  no  doubt  may  be  accounted  for 
by  the  seed  being  of  no  value,  and  consequently  not  having  been 
subjected  to  selection.  The  strawberry  is  properly  three-leaved,  but 
in  1761  Duchesne  raised  a  single-leaved  variety  of  the  European 
wood-strawberry,  which  Linnaeus  doubtfully  raised  to  the  rank  of  a 
species.  Seedlings  of  this  variety,  like  those  of  most  varieties  not 
fixed  by  long-continued  selection,  often  revert  to  the  ordinary  form, 


106  '  Journal    of    Horticulture,'    Dec.  107  '  Le  Fraisier,'  par  le  Comte  L.  de 

JSOth,  1SG2,  p.  779.    Sea  also  Mr.  Prinos  Lambertye,  pp.  221,  230. 
to  the  same  effect,  idem,  1863,  p.  418.  108  'Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  vi.,  p. 

106  For  additional  evidence  see  '  Jour-  200. 
nal  of  Horticulture,'  Dec.  9th,  1862,  p.  109  'Gardener's  Chron.,' 1S5S,  p.  173. 

21. 


Chap.  X.  STRAWBERRIES.  425 

or  present  intermediate  states.110  A  variety  raised  by  Mr.  Myatt,"1 
apparently  belonging  to  one  of  the  American  forms,  presents  a  va- 
riation of  an  opposite  nature,  for  it  has  five  leaves  ;  Godron  and 
Lambertye  also  mention  a  five-leaved  variety  of  F.  collina. 

The  Red  Bush  Alpine  strawberry  (one  of  the  F.  vesca  section)  does 
not  produce  stolons  or  runners,  and  this  remarkable  deviation  of 
structure  is  reproduced  truly  by  seed.  Another  sub-variety,  the 
"White  Bush  Alpine,  is  similarly  characterised,  but  when  propagated 
by  seed  it  often  degenerates  and  produces  plants  with  runners.1" 
A  strawberry  of  the  American  Pine  section  is  also  said  to  make  but 
few  runners.113 

Much  has  been  written  on  the  sexes  of  strawberries ;  the  true 
Hautbois  properly  bears  the  male  and  female  organs  on  separate 
plants,114  and  was  consequently  named  by  Duchesne  dioica  ;  but  it 
frequently  produces  hermaphrodites  ;  and  Lindley,115  by  propagat- 
ing such  plants  by  runners,  at  the  same  time  destroying  the  males, 
soon  raised  a  self-prolific  stock.  The  other  species  often  show  a 
tendency  towards  an  imperfect  separation  of  the  sexes,  as  I  have 
noticed  with  plants  forced  in  a  hot-house.  Several  English  varie- 
ties, which  in  this  country  are  free  from  any  such  tendency,  when 
cultivated  in  rich  soils  under  the  climate  of  North  America  118  com- 
monly produce  plants  with  separate  sexes.  Thus  a  whole  acre  of 
Keen's  Seedlings  in  the  United  States  has  been  observed  to  be  al- 
most sterile  from  the  absence  of  male  flowers  ;  but  the  more  general 
rule  is,  that  the  male  plants  overrun  the  females.  Some  members 
of  the  Cincinnati  Horticultural  Society,  especially  appointed  to  in- 
vestigate this  subject,  report  that  "  few  varieties  have  the  flowers 
perfect  in  both  sexual  organs,"  &c.  The  most  successful  cultivators 
hi  Ohio,  plant  for  every  seven  rows  of  "  pistillata,"  or  female  plants, 
one  row  of  hermaphrodites,  which  afford  pollen  for  both  kinds  ;  but 
the  hermaphrodites,  owing  to  their  expenditure  in  the  production  of 
pollen,  bear  less  fruit  than  the  female  plants. 

The  varieties  differ  in  constitution.  Some  of  our  best  English 
kinds,  such  as  Keen's  Seedlings,  are  too  tender  for  certain  parts  of 
North  America,  where  other  English  and  many  American  varieties 
succeed  perfectly.  That  splendid  fruit,  the  British  Queen,  can  be 
cultivated  but  in  few  places  either  in  England  or  France  ;  but  this 


110  Godron,  '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  i.  p'  p.  210. 

161.  115  '  Gardener's  Cliron.,'  1S47,  p.  539. 

111  'Gardener's  Chron.,'  1S51,  p.  440.  116For  the   several    statements  with 
1 1-  F.  Gloede,  in  '  Gardener's  Chron.,'  respect  to  the  American  strawberries,  see 

1S62,  p.  1053.  Downing,  'Fruits,'  p.  524  ;  'Gardener's 

H3  Downing's  '  Fruits,'  p.  532.  Chronicle,'  1S43,  p.  1SS;   1S4T,  p.  539; 

in  Barnet,  in  'Hort.  Transact.,'  vol.  vl.  1861,  p.  717. 


426  FKUITS.  Chap.  X, 

apparently  depends  more  on  the  nature  of  the  soil  than  on  the  cli- 
mate :  a  famous  gardener  says  that  "  no  mortal  could  grow  the 
British  Queen  at  Shrubland  Park  unless  the  whole  nature  of  the  soil 
was  altered."  m  La  Constantina  is  one  of  the  hardiest  kinds,  and 
can  withstand  Russian  winters,  but  is  easily  burnt  by  the  sun,  so 
that  it  will  not  succeed  in  certain  soils  either  in  England  or  the 
United  States.119  The  Filbert  Pine  Strawberry  "requires  more 
water  than  any  other  variety  ;  and  if  the  plants  once  suffer  from 
drought,  they  will  do  little  or  no  good  afterwards."  11D  Cuthill's 
Black  Prince  Strawberry  evinces  a  singular  tendency  to  mildew : 
no  less  than  six  cases  have  been  recorded  of  this  variety  suffering 
severely,  whilst  other  varieties  growing  close  by,  and  treated  in  ex- 
actly the  same  manner,  were  not  at  all  infested  by  this  fungus.120 
The  time  of  maturity  differs  much  in  the  different  varieties ;  some 
belonging  to  the  wood  or  alpine  section  produce  a  succession  of  crops 
throughout  the  summer. 

Gooseberry  (Bibes  grossularia). — No  one,  I  believe,  has  hitherto 
doubted  that  all  the  cultivated  kinds  are  sprung  from  the  wild  plant 
bearing  this  name,  which  is  common  in  Central  and  Northern  Eu- 
rope ;  therefore  it  will  be  desirable  briefly  to  specify  all  the  points, 
though  not  very  important,  which  have  varied.  If  it  be  admitted 
that  these  differences  are  due  to  culture,  authors  perhaps  will  not 
be  so  ready  to  assume  the  existence  of  a  large  number  of  unknown 
wild  parent-stocks  for  our  other  cultivated  plants.  The  gooseberry 
is  not  alluded  to  by  writers  of  the  classical  period.  Turner  men- 
tions it  in  1573,  and  Parkinson,  in  1629,  specifies  eight  varieties ; 
the  Catalogue  of  the  Horticultural  Society  for  1842  gives  149  varie- 
ties, and  the  lists  of  the  Lancashire  nurserymen  are  said  to  include 
above  300  names.121  In  the  '  Gooseberry  Grower's  Register  for  1862 ' 
I  find  that  243  distinct  varieties  have  at  various  periods  won  prizes  ; 
so  that  a  vast  number  must  have  been  exhibited.  No  doubt  the 
difference  between  many  of  the  varieties  is  very  small ;  but  Mr. 
Thompson  in  classifying  the  fruit  for  the  Horticultural  Society  found 
less  confusion  in  the  nomenclature  of  the  gooseberry  than  of  any 
other  fruit,  and  he  attributes  this  "  to  the  great  interest  which  the 
prize-growers  have  taken  in  detecting  sorbs  with  wrong  names,"  and 


i"  Mr.  D.  Beaton,  in  '  Cottage  Gar-  lia  Mr.  H.  Doubleday  in  '  Gardener's 

dener,'  1860,  p.  86.    See  also  '  Cottage  Chron.,'  1862,  p.  1101. 

Gardener,'  1S55,  p.  88,  and  many  other  i2°   '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1851,   p. 

authorities.     For  the  Continent,  see  F.  254. 

Gloede,  in  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1S62,  121  Loudon's '  Encyclop.  of  Gardening,' 

p.  1053.  p.  930 ;   and  Alph.  de   Candolle,  '  Geo- 

118  Rev.  W.  F.  Radclyffe,  in  '  Journal  graph.  Bot.,'  p.  910. 
of  Hort.,'  March  14, 1865,  p.  207. 


Chap.  X.  THE   GOOSEBERRY.  427 

this  shows  that  all  the  kinds,  numerous  as  they  are,  can  be  recog- 
nised with  certainty. 

The  bushes  differ  in  their  manner  of  growth,  being  erect,  or  spread- 
ing, or  pendulous.  The  periods  of  leafing  and  flowering  differ  both  ab- 
solutely and  relatively  to  each  other  ;  thus  the  Whitesmith  produces 
early  flowers,  which  from  not  being  protected  by  the  foliage,  as  it  is 
believed,  continually  fail  to  produce  fruit.122  The  leaves  vary  in 
size,  tint,  and  in  depth  of  lobes  ;  they  are  smooth,  downy,  or  hairy 
on  the  upper  surface.  The  branches  are  more  or  less  downy  or 
spinose ;  "  the  Hedgehog  has  probably  derived  its  name  from  the 
singular  bristly  condition  of  its  shoots  and  fruit."  The  branches  of 
the  mid  gooseberry,  I  may  remark,  are  smooth,  with  the  exception 
of  thorns  at  the  bases  of  the  buds.  The  thorns  themselves  are 
either  very  small,  few  and  single,  or  very  large  and  triple  ;  they 
are  sometimes  reflexed  and  much  dilated  at  their  bases.  In  the  dif- 
ferent varieties  the  fruit  varies  in  abundance,  in  the  period  of  matu- 
rity, in  hanging  until  shrivelled,  and  greatly  in  size,  "  some  sorts 
having  their  fruit  large  during  a  very  early  period  of  growth, 
whilst  others  are  small  until  nearly  ripe."  The  fruit  varies  also 
much  in  colour,  being  red,  yellow,  green,  and  white — the  pulp  of 
one  dark-red  gooseberry  being  tinged  with  yellow  ;  in  flavour  ;  in 
being  smooth  or  downy, — few,  however,  of  the  Red  gooseberries, 
whilst  many  of  the  so-called  Whites,  arc  downy ;  or  in  being  so 
spinose  that  one  kind  is  called  Henderson's  Porcupine.  Two  kinds 
acquire  when  mature  a  powdery  bloom  on  their  fruit.  The  fruit 
varies  in  the  thickness  and  veining  of  the  skin,  and,  lastly,  in  shape, 
being  spherical,  oblong,  oval,  or  obovate.123 

I  cultivated  fifty-four  varieties,  and,  considering  how  greatly  the 
fruit  differs,  it  was  curious  how  closely  similar  the  flowers  were 
in  all  these  kinds.  In  only  a  few  I  detected  a  trace  of  difference  in 
the  size  or  colour  of  the  corolla.  The  calyx  differed  in  a  rather 
greater  degree,  for  in  some  kinds  it  was  much  redder  than  in  others ; 
and  in  one  smooth  white  gooseberry  it  was  unusually  red.  The 
calyx  also  differed  in  the  basal  part  being  smooth  or  woolly,  or 
covered  with  glandular  hairs.  It  deserves  notice,  as  being  contrary 
to  what  might  have  been  expected  from  the  law  of  correlation,  that 
a  smooth  red  gooseberry  had  *a  remarkably  hairy  calyx.  The 
flowers  of  the  Sportsman  are  furnished  with  very  large  coloured 
bractere  ;  and  this  is  the  most  singular  deviation  of  structure  which 


122  Loudon's  'Gardener's  Magazine,'  '  Transact.  Hort. Soc.,'  vol.  i.,  2nd  series, 
vol.  iv.  1SJJS,  p.  112.  1S35,  p.  21S,  from  which  most  of  the  fore- 

123  The  fullest  account  of  the  goose-  going  facts  are  given, 
herry  is    given    by  Mr.   Thompson    in 


42  S  FRUITS.  Chap.  X. 

I  have  observed.  These  same  flowers  also  varied  niuch  in  tho 
number  of  the  petals,  and  occasionally  in  the  number  of  the  stamens 
and  pistils ;  so  that  they  were  semi -monstrous  in  structure,  yet  they 
produced  plenty  of  fruit.  Mr.  Thompson  remarks  that  in  the  Pas- 
time gooseberry  "  extra  bracts  are  often  attached  to  the  sides  of  the 
"fruit."124 

The  most  interesting  point  in  the  history  of  the  gooseberry  is  the 
steady  increase  in  the  size  of  the  fruit.  Manchester  is  the  metro- 
polis of  the  fanciers,  and  prizes  from  five  shillings  to  five  or  ten 
pounds  are  yearly  given  for  the  heaviest  fruit.  The  '  Gooseberry 
Grower's  Eegister '  is  published  annually ;  the  earliest  known  copy 
is  dated  1786,  but  it  is  certain  that  meetings  for  the  adjudication  of 
prizes  were  held  some  years  previously.125  The  '  Register '  for  1845 
gives  an  account  of  171  Gooseberry  Shows,  held  in  different  places 
during  that  year ;  and  this  fact  shows  on  how  large  a  scale  the  cul- 
ture has  been  carried  on.  The  fruit  of  the  wild  gooseberry  is  said  128 
to  weigh  about  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  or  5  dwts.,  that  is,  120  grs. ; 
about  the  year  1786  gooseberries  were  exhibited  weighing  10  dwts., 
so  that  the  weight  was  then  doubled  ;  in  1817  26  dwts.  17  grs.  was 
attained ;  there  was  no  advance  till  1825,  when  31  dwts.  16  grs.  was 
reached ;  in  1830  "  Teazer "  weighed  32  dwts.  13  grs. ;  in  1841 
"  Wonderful "  weighed  32  dwts.  16  grs. ;  in  1844  "  London  "  weighed 
35  dwts.  12  grs.,  and  in  the  following  year  36  dwts.  16  grs. ;  and  in 
1852  in  Staffordshire  the  fruit  of  this  same  variety  reached  the 
astonishing  weight  of  37  dwts.  7  grs.,127  or  895  grs. ;  that  is,  be- 
tween seven  and  eight  times  the  weight  of  the  wild  fruit.  I  find 
that  a  small  apple,  6^  inches  in  circumference,  has  exactly  this  same 
weight.  The  "  London"  gooseberry  (which  in  1862  had  altogether 
gained  343  prizes)  has,  up  to  the  present  year  of  1864,  never  reached 
a  greater  weight  than  that  attained  in  1852.  Perhaps  the  fruit  of 
the  gooseberry  has  now  reached  the  greatest  possible  weight,  unless 
in  the  course  of  time  some  quite  new  and  distinct  variety  shall 
arise. 

This  gradual,  and  on  the  whole  steady  increase  of  weight  from 
the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  to  the  year  1852,  is  probably  in 
large  part  due  to  improved  methods  of  cultivation,  for  extreme  care 
is  now  taken;  the  branches  and  roots  are  trained,  composts  are 


144  '  Catalogue  of  Fruits  of  Hort,  Soc.  126  Downing's  Fruits  of  Amer.,'  p.  213. 

Garden,'  3rd  edit.  1S42.  127   '  Gardener's   Chronicle,'  1S44,   p. 

125  Mr.   Clarkson,  of   Manchester,  on  SU,  where  a  table  is  given  ;  and  1S45,  p. 

the  Culture  of  the  Gooseberry,  in  Lou-  819.     For  the  extreme  weights    gained, 

don's  '  Gardener's  Magazine,'  vol.   iv.  see.  '  Journal   of   Horticulture,'  July  26, 

1S2S,  p.  4S2.                                     *  1S64,  p.  61. 


Chap.  X.  AVALNUTS.  429 

made,  the  soil  is  mulched,  and  only  a  few  berries  are  left  on  each 
bush ; I2S  but  the  increase  no  doubt  is  in  main  part  due  to  the  con- 
tinued selection  of  seedlings  which  have  been  found  to  be  more  and 
more  capable  of  yielding  such  extraordinary  fruit.  Assuredly  the 
"Highwayman  "  in  1817  could  not  have  produced  fruit  like  that  of 
the  "Roaring  Lion"  in  1825;  nor  could  the  "Roaring  Lion," 
though  it  was  grown  by  many  persons  in  many  places,  gain  the 
supreme  triumph  achieved  in  1852  by  the  "London"  Gooseberry. 

Walnut  {Juglans  regia). — This  tree  and  the  common  nut  belong 
to  a  widely  different  order  from  the  foregoing  fruits,  and  are  there- 
fore here  noticed.  The  walnufr  grows  wild  in  the  Caucasus  and 
Himalaya,  where  Dr.  Hooker  m  found  the  fruit  of  full  size,  but  "  as 
hard  as  a  hickory-nut."  In  England  the  walnut  presents  consider- 
able differences,  in  the  shape  and  size  of  the  fruit,  in  the  thickness 
of  the  husk,  and  in  the  thinness  of  the  shell ;  this  latter  quality 
'  has  given  rise  to  a  variety  called  the  thin-shelled,  which  is  valuable, 
but  suffers  from  the  attacks  of  tom-tits.130  The  degree  to  which 
the  kernel  fills  the  shell  varies  much.  In  France  there  is  a  variety 
called  the  Grape  or  cluster-walnut,  in  which  the  nuts  grow  in 
"  bunches  of  ten,  fifteen,  or  even  twenty  together."  There  is  another 
variety  which  bears  on  the  same  tree  differently  shaped  leaves,  like 
the  heterophyllous  hornbeam ;  this  tree  is  also  remarkable  from 
having  pendulous  branches,  and  bearing  elongated,  large,  thin- 
shelled  nuts.131  M.  Cardan  has  minutely  described  m  some  singu- 
lar physiological  peculiarities  in  the  June-leafing  variety,  which 
produces  its  leaves  and  flowers  four  or  five  weeks  later,  and  retains 
its  leaves  and  fruit  in  the  autumn  much  longer,  than  the  common 
varieties  ;  but  in  August  is  in  exactly  the  same  state  with  them. 
These  constitutional  peculiarities  are  strictly  inherited.  Lastly, 
walnut-trees,  which  are  properly  monoicous,  sometimes  entirely  fail 
to  produce  male  flowers.133 

Nuts  {Corylus  avellana). — Most  botanists  rank  all  the  varieties 
under  the  same  species,  the  common  wild  nut.134  The  husk,  or  in- 
volucre, differs  greatly,  being  extremely  short  in  Barr's  Spanish, 
and  extremely  long  in  filberts,  in  which  it  is  contracted  so  as  to 


126  Mr.  Saul,  of  Lancaster,  in  Loudon's  '  Gardener's  Mag.,'  1S29,  vol.  v.  p.  202. 
'  Gardener's  Mag.,'  vol.  iii.  1S28,  p.  421  ;  132  Quoted  in  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,' 

and  vol.  x.  1&34,  p.  42.  1S49,  p.  101. 

159  ' Himalayan  Journals,'  1854,  vol.  133  'Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1S47,  pp. 

ii.  p.  834.     Moorcroft  ('  Travels,'  vol.  ii.  541  and  558. 

p.  146)  describes  four  varieties  cultivated  134  The    following  details   are  taken 

in  Kashmir.  from  the  Catalogue  of  Fruits,  1842,  in 

130  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1S50,  p.  Garden  of  Ilort.  Soc,  p.  103  ;  and  from 
723.  Loudon's  '  Encyclop.  of  Gardening,'  p. 

131  Paper     translated    in     Loudon's  943. 


430  CUCURBITACEOUS    PLANTS.  Chap.  X. 

prevent  the  nut  falling  out.  This  kind  of  husk  also  protects  the 
flut  from  birds,  for  titmice  (Paras)  have  been  observed ia5  to  pass 
over  filberts,  and  attack  cobs  and  common  nuts  growing  in  the 
same  orchard.  In  the  purple-filbert  the  husk  is  purple,  and  in 
the  frizzled-filbert  it  is  curiously  laciniated ;  in  the  red-filbert 
the  pellicle  of  the  kernel  is  red.  The  shell  is  thick  in  some  va- 
rieties, but  is  thin  in  Cosford's-nut,  and  in  one  variety  is  of  a  blu- 
ish colour.  The  nut  itself  differs  much  in  size  and  shape,  being 
ovate  and  compressed  in  filberts,  nearly  round  and  of  great  size  in 
cobs  and  Spanish  nuts,  oblong  and  longitudinally  striated  in  Cos- 
ford's,  and  obtusely  four-sided  in  the  Downton  Square  nut. 

Cueurltitaceous  plants. — These  plants  have  been  for  a  long  period 
the  opprobrium  of  botanists  ;  numerous  varieties  have  been  ranked 
as  species,  and,  what  happens  more  rarely,  forms  which  now  must 
be  considered  as  species  have  been  classed  as  varieties.  Owing  to 
the  admirable  experimental  researches  of  a  distinguished  botanist, " 
M.  Naudin,136  a  flood  of  light  has  recently  been  thrown  on  this  group 
of  plants.  M.  Naudin,  during  many  years,  observed  and  experi- 
mented on  above  1200  living  specimens,  collected  from  all  "qxiarters 
of  the  world.  Six  species  are  now  recognised  in  the  genus  Cucur- 
bita ;  but  three  alone  have  been  cultivated  and  concern  us,  namely, 
C.  maxima  and  pepo,  which  include  all  pumpkins,  gourds,  squashes, 
and  vegetable  marrow,  and  C.  moscltata,  the  water-melon.  These 
three  species  are  not  known  in  a  wild  state  ;  but  Asa  Gray  m  gives 
good  reason  for  believing  that  some  pumpkins  are  natives  of  1ST. 
America. 

These  three  species  are  closely  allied,  and  have  the  same  general 
habit,  but  their  innumerable  varieties  can  always  be  distinguished, 
according  to  Naudin,  by  certain  almost  fixed  characters  ;  and  what 
is  still  more  important,  when  crossed  they  yield  no  seed,  or  only 
sterile  seed  ;  whilst  the  varieties  spontaneously  intercross  with  the 
utmost  freedom.  Naudin  insists  strongly  (p.  15),  that,  though  these 
three  species  have  varied  greatly  in  many  characters,  yet  it  has 
been  in  so  closely  an  analogous  manner  that  the  varieties  can  be 
arranged  in  almost  parallel  series,  as  we  have  seen  with  the  forms 
of*  wheat,  with  the  two  main  races  of  the  peach,  and  in  other  cases. 
Though  some  of  the  varieties  are  inconstant  in  character,  yet  others, 
when  grown  separately  under  uniform  conditions  of  life,  are,  as 
Naudin  repeatedly  (pp.  G,  16,  35)  urges,  "  douees  d'une  stabilite 
presque  comparable  a  celle  des  especes  les  mieux  caracterisees." 


«35  'Gardener's  Chron.,' 1SG0,  p.  956.  137  '  American  Journ.  of  Science,'  2nd 

i36  'Annales  des  Sc.  Nat.  Bot.,'  4th        ser.  vol.  xxiv.  1S57,  p.  442. 
series,  vol.  vi.  1850,  p.  5. 


Chap.  X.  CUCUKBITACEOUS    PLANTS.  431 

One  variety,  l'Orangin  (pp.  43,  63),  has  suck  prepotency  in  trans- 
mitting its  character  that  when  crossed  with  other  varieties  a  vast 
majority  of  the  seedlings  come  true.  Naudin,  referring  (p.  47)  to 
C.  pepo,  says  that  its  races  "  ne  different  des  especes  veritables  qu'en 
ce  qu'elles  peuvent  s'allier  les  unes  aux  autres  par  voie  d'hybridite, 
sans  que  leur  descendance  perde  la  faculte  de  se  pcrpetuer."  If  we 
were  to  trust  to  external  differences  alone,  and  give  np  the  test  of 
sterility,  a  multitude  of  species  would  have  to  be  formed  out  of  the 
varieties  of  these  three  species  of  Cucurbita.  Many  naturalists  at 
the  present  day  lay  far  too  little  stress,  in  my  opinion,  on  the  test 
of  sterility ;  yet  it  is  not  improbable  that  distinct  species  of  plants 
after  a  long  course  of  cultivation  and  variation  may  have  their 
mutual  sterility  eliminated,  as  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  has 
occurred  with  domesticated  animals.  Nor,  in  the  case  of  plants 
under  cultivation,  should  we  be  justified  in  assuming  that  varieties 
never  acquire  a  slight  degree  of  mutual  sterility,  as  we  shall  more 
fully  see  in  a  future  chapter  when  certain  facts  are  given  on  the 
high  authority  of  Gartner  and  Kolreuter.138 

The  forms  of  C.  pepo  are  classed  by  Naudin  under  seven  sections, 
each  including  subordinate  varieties.  He  considers  this  plant  as 
probably  the  most  variable  in  the  world.  The  fruit  of  one  variety 
(pp.  33,  46)  exceeds  in  volume  that  of  another  by  more  than  two 
thousand  fold !  When  the  fruit  is  of  very  large  size,  the  number 
produced  is  few  (p.  45) ;  wrhen  of  small  size,  many  are  produced. 
No  less  astonishing  (p.  33)  is  the  variation  in  the  shape  of  the  fruit ; 
the  typical  form  apparently  is  egg-like,  but  this  becomes  either 
drawn  out  into  a  cylinder,  or  shortened  into  a  flat  disc.  We  have 
also  an  almost  infinite  diversity  in  the  colour  and  state  of  surface  of 
the  fruit,  in  the  hardness  botk  of  tke  shell  and  of  the  flesh,  and  in 
the  taste  of  the  flesh,  which  is  either  extremely  sweet,  farinaceous, 
or  slightly  bitter.  The  seeds  also  differ  in  a  slight  degree  in  shape, 
and  wonderfully  in  size  (p.  34),  namely,  from  six  or  seven  to  more 
than  twenty-five  millimetres  in  length. 

In  the  varieties  which  grow  upright  or  do  not  run  and  climb,  the 
tendrils,  though  useless  (p.  31),  are  either  present  or  are  represented 
by  various  semi-monstrous  organs,  or  are  quite  absent.  The  ten- 
drils are  even  absent  in  some  running  varieties  in  which  the  stems 
are  much  elongated.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  (p.  31),  in  all  the 
varieties  with  dwarfed  stems,  the  leaves  closely  resemble  each  other 
in  shape. 

138  Gartner,  'Bastarderzeugung,' 1S49,  s.  137.    With  respect  to  Nicotiana,  see 

a.  87,  and  s.  109  with  respect  to  M.iize ;  Kolreuter,  '  Zweite  Forts.,'  1764,  s.  53 

on  Verbascum,  idem,  ss.  92  and  181 ;  though    this    is    a    somewhat   different 

also  his   '  Kenntniss  der-  Befruchtung,'  case. 


432  CUCUEBITACEOUS    PLANTS.  Chap.  X. 

Those  naturalists  who  believe  in  the  immutability  of  species  often 
maintain  that,  even  in  the  most  variable  forms,  the  characters 
which  they  consider  of  specific  value  are  unchangeable.  To  give 
an  example  from  a  conscientious  writer,139  who,  relying  on  the 
labours  of  M.  Naudin  and  referring  to  the  species  of  Cucurbita, 
says,  "  au  milieu  de  toutes  les  variations  du  fruit,  les  tiges,  les 
feuilles,  les  calices,  les  corolles,  les  etamines  restent  in  variables  dans 
chacune  d'elles."  Yet  M.  Naudin  in  describing  Cucurbita  pepo 
(p.  30)  says,  "  Ici,  d'ailleurs,  ce  ne  sont  pas  seulement  les  fruits  qui 
varient,  c'est  aussi  le  feuillage  et  tout  le  port  de  la  plante.  Nean- 
moins,  je  crois  qu'on  la  distinguera  toujours  facilement  des  deux 
autres  especes,  si  Ton  veut  ne  pas  perdre  de  vue  les  caracteres  dif- 
ferentiels  que  je  m'efforce  de  faire  ressortir:  Ces  caracteres  sont 
quelquefois  peu  marques  :  il  arrive  meme  que  plusieurs  d'entre  eux 
s'effacent  presque  entierement,  mais  il  en  reste  toujours  quelques- 
uns  qui  remettent  l'observateur  sur  la  voie."  Now  let  it  be  noted 
what  a  difference,  with  regard  to  the  immutability  of  the  so-called 
specific  characters,  this  paragraph  produces  on  the  mind,  from  that 
above  quoted  from  M.  Godron. 

I  will  add  another  remark  :  naturalists  continually  assert  that  no 
important  organ  varies  ;  but  in  saying  this  they  unconsciously  argue 
in  a  vicious  circle ;  for  if  an  organ,  let  it  be  what  it  may,  is  highly 
variable,  it  is  regarded  as  unimportant,  and  under  a  systematic  point 
of  view  this  is  quite  correct.  But  as  long  as  constancy  is  thus  taken 
as  the  criterion  of  importance,  it  will  indeed  be  long  before  an  im- 
portant organ  can  be  shown  to  be  inconstant.  The  enlarged  form 
of  the  stigmas,  and  their  sessile  position  on  the  summit  of  the  ovary, 
must  be  considered  as  important  characters,  and  were  used  by  Gas- 
parini  to  separate  certain  pumpkins  as  a  distinct  genus  ;  but  Naudin 
says  (p.  20)  these  parts  have  no  constancy,  and  in  the  flowers  of  the 
Turban  varieties  of  C.  maxima  they  sometimes  resume  their  ordi- 
nary structure.  Again  in  C.  maxima,  the  carpels  (p.  19)  which  form 
the  Turban  project  even  as  much  as  two-thirds  of  their  length  out 
of  the  receptacle,  and  this  latter  part  is  thus  reduced  to  a  sort  of 
platform ;  but  this  remarkable  structure  occurs  only  in  certain  va- 
rieties, and  graduates  into  the  common  form  in  which  the  carpels 
are  almost  entirely  enveloped  within  the  receptacle.  In  C.  moschata 
the  ovarium  (p.  50)  varies  greatly  in  shape,  being  oval,  nearly  sphe- 
rical, or  cylindrical,  more  or  less  swollen  in  the  upper  part,  or  con- 
stricted round  the  middle,  and  either  straight  or  curved.  When  the 
ovarium  is  short  and  oval  the  interior  structure  does  not  differ  from 


>39  <De  TEspec^'  par  M.  Godron,  torn.  ii.   p.   64. 


Chap.  X.  OUCUEBITACEOUS    PLANTS.  433 

that  of  0.  maxima  &m\pcpo,  but  when  it  is  elongated  the  carpels  oc- 
cupy only  the  terminal  and  swollen  portion.  I  may  add  that  in  one 
variety  of  the  cucumber  (Cucumis  satieus)  the  fruit  regularly  con- 
tains five  carpels  instead  of  three.140  I  presume  that  it  will  not  be 
disputed  that  we  here  have  instances  of  great  variability  in  organs 
of  the  highest  physiological  importance,  and  with  most  plants  of  the 
highest  classificatory  importance. 

Sageret "'  and  Naudin  found  that  the  cucumber  (C.  sativus)  could 
not  be  crossed  with  any  other  species  of  the  genus ;  therefore  no 
doubt  it  is  specifically  distinct  from  the  melon.  This  will  appear  to 
most  persons  a  superfluous  statement ;  yet  we  hear  from  Naudin  m 
that  there  is  a  race  of  melons,  in  which  the  fruit  is  so  like  that  of 
the  cucumber,  "  both  externally  and  internally,  that  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other  except  by  the  leaves." 
The  varieties  of  the  melon  seem  to  be  endless,  for  Naudin  after  six 
years'  study  has  not  come  to  the  end  of  them :  he  divides  them  into 
ten  sections,  including  numerous  sub-varieties  which  all  intercross 
with  perfect  ease."3  Of  the  forms  considered  by  Naudin  to  be  va- 
rieties, botanists  have  made  thirty  distinct  species !  "  and  they  had 
not  the  slightest  acquaintance  with  the  multitude  of  new  forms 
which  have  appeared  since  their  time."  Nor  is  the  creation  of  so 
many  species  at  all  surprising  when  we  consider  how  strictly  their 
characters  are  transmitted  by  seed,  and  how  wonderfully  they  differ 
in  appearance :  "  Mira  est  quidem  foliorum  et  habitus  diversitas, 
sed  multo  magis  fructuum,"  says  Naudin.  The  fruit  is  the  valuable 
part,  and  this,  in  accordance  with  the  common  ride,  is  the  most  mo- 
dified part.  Some  melons  are  only  as  large  as  small  plums,  others 
weigh  as  much  as  sixty-six  pounds.  One  variety  has  a  scarlet 
fruit !  Another  is  not  more  than  an  inch  in  diameter,  but  some- 
times more  than  a  yard  in  length,  "  twisting  about  in  all  directions 
like  a  serpent."  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  in  this  latter  variety  many 
parts  of  the  plant,  namely,  the  stems,  the  footstalks  of  the  female 
flowers,  the  middle  lobe  of  the  leaves,  and  especially  the  ovarium, 
as  well  as  the  mature  fruit,  all  show  a  strong  tendency  to  become 
elongated.  Several  varieties  of  the  melon  are  interesting  from  as- 
suming the  characteristic  features  of  distinct  species  and  even  of 
distinct  though  allied  genera :  thus  the  serpent-melon  has  some  re- 


•*°  Naudin,  in  *  Annal.  des  Sci.  Nat.,'  1135.    I  have  also  consulted  and  taken 

4th  ser.  Bot.  torn.  si.  1S59,  p.  23.  some  facts  from  M.  Naudiu's  Memoir  on 

i*1  'Memoire  sur  les  Cucurbitacees,'  Cucumis  in  'Annal.  des  Sc.  Nat.,'  4th 

1S2G,  pp.  6,  24.  series,  Bot.  torn.  xi.  1^9,  p.  5. 

i«»  '  Klnre  des  Serres,'  Oct.  1861,  quot-  li3  See    also    Sageret's     'Memoire,' 

ed  in  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1SG1,  p.  p.  7. 
19 


434  TREES.  Chap.  X. 

semblance  to  the  fruit  of  Tricliosanthes  anguina  ;  we  have  seen  that 
other  varieties  closely  resemble  cucumbers ;  some  Egyptian  varie- 
ties have  their  seeds  attached  to  a  portion  of  the  pulp,  and  this  is 
characteristic  of  certain  wild  forms.  Lastly,  a  variety  of  melon  from 
Algiers  is  remarkable  from  announcing  its  maturity  by  "  a  sponta- 
neous and  almost  sudden  dislocation,"  when  deep  cracks  suddenly 
appear,  and  the  fruit  falls  to  pieces  ;  and  this  occurs  with  the  wild 
C.  momordica.  Finally,  M.  Naudin  well  remarks  that  this  "  extra- 
ordinary production  of  races  and  varieties  by  a  single  species,  and 
their  permanence  when  not  interfered  with  by  crossing,  are  pheno- 
mena well  calculated  to  cause  reflection." 

Useful  and  Ornamental  Trees. 

Trees  deserve  a  passing  notice  on  account  of  the  numerous  varie- 
ties which  they  present,  differing  in  their  precocity,  in  their  manner 
of  growth,  foliage,  and  bark.  Thus  of  the  common  ash  (Fraxinua 
excelsior)  the  catalogue  of  Messrs.  Lawson  of  Edinburgh  includes 
twenty-one  varieties,  some  of  which  differ  much  in  their  bark  ;  there 
is  a  yellow,  a  streaked  reddish- white,  a  purple,  a  wart-barked  and  a 
fungous-barked  variety.144  Of  hollies  no  less  than  eighty-four  va- 
rieties are  grown  alongside  each  other  in  Mr.  Paul's  nursery.145  In 
the  case  of  trees,  all  the  recorded  varieties,  as  far  as  I  can  find  out, 
have  been  suddenly  produced  by  one  single  act  of  variation.  The 
length  of  time  required  to  raise  many  generations,  and  the  little 
value  set  on  the  fanciful  varieties,  explains  how  it  is  that  successive 
modifications  have  not  been  accumulated  by  selection  ;  hence,  also 
it  follows  that  we  do  not  here  meet  with  sub-varieties  subordinate 
to  varieties,  and  these  again  subordinate  to  higher  groups.  On  the 
Continent,  however,  where  the  forests  are  more  carefully  attended 
to  than  in  England,  Alph.  De  Candolle  "8  says  that  there  is  not  a 
forester  who  does  not  search  for  seeds  from  that  variety  which  he 
esteems  the  most  valuable. 

Our  useful  trees  have  seldom  been  exposed  to  any  great  change 
of  conditions ;  they  have  not  been  richly  manured,  and  the  English 
kinds  grow  under  their  proper  climate.  Yet  in  examining  extensive 
beds  of  seedlings  in  nursery-gardens  considerable  differences  may 
be  generally  observed  in  them ;  and  whilst  touring  in  England  I 
have  been  surprised  at  the  amount  of  difference  in  the  appearance 
of  the  same  species  in  our  hedgerows  and  woods.     But  as  plants 


144  Loudoa's  'Arboretum  et  Frutice-  145  '  Gardener's  Chron.,'  1S66, p.  1096. 

turn,'  vol.  ii.  p.  1217.  146  '  Geograph.  Bot,,'  p.  1096. 


Chap.  X.  TREES.         •  435 

vary  so  much  in  a  truly  wild  state,  it  would  be  difficult  for  even  a 
skilful  botanist  to  pronounce  whether,  as  I  believe  to  be  the  case, 
hedgerow  trees  vary  more  than  those  growing  in  a  primeval  forest. 
Trees  when  planted  by  man  in  woods  or  hedges  do  not  grow  where 
they  would  naturally  be  able  to  hold  their  place  against  a  host  of 
competitors,  and  are  therefore  exposed  to  conditions  not  strictly 
natural :  even  this  slight  change  would  probably  suffice  to  cause 
seedlings  raised  from  such  trees  to  be  variable.  Whether  or  not  our 
half-wild  English  trees,  as  a  general  rule,  are  more  variable  than 
trees  growing  in  their  native  forests,  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt 
that  they  have  yielded  a  greater  number  of  strongly  marked  and 
singular  variations  of  structure. 

In  manner  of  growth,  we  have  weeping  or  pendulous  varieties  of 
the  willow,  ash,  elm,  oak,  and  yew,  and  other  trees  ;  and  this  weep- 
ing habit  is  sometimes  inherited,  though  in  a  singularly  capricious 
manner.  In  the  Lombardy  poplar,  and  in  certain  fastigate  or  pyra- 
midal varieties  of  thorns,  junipers,  oaks,  &c,  we  have  an  opposite 
kind  of  growth.  The  Hessian  oak,147  which  is  famous  from  its  fasti- 
gate  habit  and  size,  bears  hardly  any  resemblance  in  general  appear- 
ance to  a  common  oak  ;  "  its  acorns  are  not  sure  to  produce  plants  of 
the  same  habit ;  some,  however,  turn  out  the  same  as  the  parent-tree." 
Another  fastigate  oak  is  said  to  have  been  found  wild  in  the  Pyrenees, 
and  this  is  a  surprising  circumstance  ;  it  generally  comes  so  true  by 
seed,  that  De  Candolle  considered  it  as  specifically  distinct."8  The 
fastigate  Juniper  (J.  sueciea)  likewise  transmits  its  character  by 
seed."9  Dr.  Falconer  informs  me  that  in  the  Botanic  Gardens  at 
Calcutta  the  great  heat  causes  apple-trees  to  become  fastigate ;  and 
we  thus  see  the  same  result  following  from  the  effects  of  climate  and 
from  an  innate  spontaneous  tendency.160 

In  foliage  we  have  variegated  leaves  which  are  often  inherited  ; 
dark  purple  or  red  leaves,  as  in  the  hazel,  barberry,  and  beech,  the 
colour  in  these  two  latter  trees  being  sometimes  strongly  and  some- 
times weakly  inherited ; 151  deeply-cut  leaves ;  and  leaves  covered 
with  prickles,  as  in  the  variety  of  the  holly  well  called  ferox,  which 
is  said  to  reproduce  itself  by  seed.152  In  fact,  nearly  all  the  peculiar 
varieties  evince  a  tendency,  more  or  less  strongly  marked,  to  repro- 


11T  '  Gardener's  Chron.,'  1842,  p.  86.  151  '  Journal  of  a  Horticultural  Tour, 

148  Loudon's    'Arboretum    et    Fruti-  by  Caledonian  Hort.  Soc.,' 1823,  p.  107 
cetum,'  vol.  iii.  p.  1781.  Alph.  De  Candolle,  'Geograph.  Bot.,'  p. 

149  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.  p.  2489.  1083.      Verlot,   '  Sur  la  Production   des 

150  Godron  ('  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  ii.  p.  Varietes,'  1S65,  p.  55,  for  the  Barberry. 
91)  describes  four  varieties  of  Robinia  15a  Loudon's  '  Arboretum  et  Frutice- 
remarkable  from  their  manner  of  growth.  turn,'  vol.  ii.  p.  60S. 


436  TKEES.  Chap.  X. 

duce  themselves  by  seed.155  This  is  to  a  certain  extent  the  case,  ac- 
cording to  Bosc,154  with  three  varieties  of  the  elm,  namely,  the  broad- 
leafed,  lime-leafed,  and  twisted  elm,  in  which  latter  the  fibres  of  the 
wood  are  twisted.  Even  with  the  heterophyllous  hornbeam  {Car- 
pinus  betulus),  which  bears  on  each  twig  leaves  of  two  shapes, 
"  several  plants  raised  from  seed  all  retained  the  same  peculiarity."  m 
I  will  add  only  one  other  remarkable  case  of  variation  in  foliage, 
namely,  the  occurrence  of  two  sub-varieties  of  the  ash  with  simple 
instead  of  pinnated  leaves,  and  which  generally  transmit  their  cha- 
racter by  seed.15"  The  occurrence,  in  trees  belonging  to  widely  dif- 
ferent orders,  of  weeping  and  fastigate  varieties,  and  of  trees  bearing 
deeply  cut,  variegated,  and  purple  leaves,  shows  that  these  deviations 
of  structure  must  result  from  some  very  general  physiological  laws. 

Differences  in  general  appearance  and  foliage,  not  more  strongly 
marked  than  those  above  indicated,  have  led  good  observers  to  rank 
as  distinct  species  certain  forms  which  are  now  known  to  be  mere 
varieties.  Thus  a  plane-tree  long  cultivated  in  England  was  con- 
sidered by  almost  every  one  as  a  North  American  species ;  but  is 
now  ascertained  by  old  records,  as  I  am  informed  by  Dr.  Hooker,  to 
be  a  variety.  So  again  the  Thuja  pendula  or  filiformis  was  ranked 
by  such  good  observers  as  Lambert,  Wallich,  and  others  as  a  true 
species  ;  but  it  is  now  known  that  the  original  plants,  five  in  number, 
suddenly  appeared  in  a  bed  of  seedlings,  raised  at  Mr.  Loddige's 
nursery,  from  T.  orientalis  ;  and  Dr.  Hooker  has  adduced  excellent 
evidence  that  at  Turin  seeds  of  T.  pendula  have  reproduced  the 
parent-form,  T.  orientalis.™ 

Every  one  must  have  noticed  how  certain  individual  trees  regular- 
ly put  forth  and  shed  their  leaves  earlier  or  later  than  others  of  the 
same  species.  There  is  a  famous  horse-chesnut  in  the  Tuileries 
which  is  named  from  leafing  so  much  earlier  than  the  others.  There 
is  also  an  oak  near  Edinburgh,  which  retains  its  leaves  to  a  very  late 
period.  These  differences  have  been  attributed  by  some  authors  to 
the  nature  of  the  soil  in  which  the  trees  grow ;  but  Archbishop 
Whately  grafted  an  early  thorn  on  a  late  one,  and  vice  versd,  and 
both  grafts  kept  to  their  proper  periods,  which  differed  by  about  a 
fortnight,  as  if  they  still  grew  on  their  own  stocks.168  There  is  a 
Cornish  variety  of  the  elm  which  is  almost  an  evergreen,  and  is  so 


us  Vevlot,  'Des  Varietes,'  1865,  p.  92.  xii.  1836,  p.  371,  a  variegated  bushy  ash 

154  Loudon's  'Arboretum  et  Frutice-  is  described  and  figured,  as  having  sim- 
tum,'  vol.  iii.  p.  1376.  pie  leaves ;  it  originated  in  Ireland. 

155  'Gardener's    Chronicle,'   1841,   p.  "7  'Gardener's  Chron.,' 1861,  p.  575. 
687.  li8  Quoted  from  Royal  Irish  Academy 

166  Godron,  '  De  l'Espece,'  torn.  ii.  p.  in  '  Gardener's  Chron.,'  1841,  p.  767. 
69.    In  Loudon's  '  Gardener's  Mag.,  vol. 


Chap.  X.  TREES.  437 

tender  that  the  shoots  are  often  killed  by  the  frost ;  and  the  varie- 
ties of  the  Turkish  oak  (Q.  cerris)  may  be  arranged  as  deciduous, 
sub-evergreen,  and  evergreen.169 

Scotch  Fir  (Pi mis  syJvestris). — I  allude  to  this  tree  as  it  hears  on 
the  question  of  the  greater  variability  of  our  hedgerow  trees  com- 
]  and  with  those  under  strictly  natural  conditions.  A  well-informed 
writer  160  states  that  the  Scotch  fir  presents  few  varieties  in  its  na- 
tive Scotch  forests  ;  but  that  it  "  varies  much  in  figure  and  foliage, 
"  and  in  the  size,  shape,  and  colour  of  its  cones,  when  several  gen- 
"  erations  have  been  produced  away  from  its  native  locality."  There 
is  little  doubt  that  the  highland  and  lowland  varieties  differ  in  the 
value  of  their  timber,  and  that  they  can  be  propagated  tndy  by 
seed  ;  thus  justifying  Loudon's  remark,  that  "  a  variety  is  often  of 
as  much  importance  as  a  species,  and  sometimes  far  more  so."  m  I 
may  mention  one  rather  important  point  in  which  this  tree  occa- 
sionally varies ;  in  the  classification  of  the  Coniferae,  sections  are 
founded  on  whether  two,  three,  or  five  leaves  are  included  in  the 
same  sheath  ;  the  Scotch  fir  has  properly  only  two  leaves  thus  en- 
closed, but  specimens  have  been  observed  with  groups  of  three 
leaves  in  a  sheath. 162  Besides  these  differences  in  the  semi-culti- 
vated Scotch  fir,  there  are  in  several  parts  of  Europe  natural  or  geo- 
graphical races,  which  have  been  ranked  by  some  authors  as  dis- 
tinct species. "■  Loudon 101  considers  P.  pumilio,  with  its  several 
sub-varieties,  as  Mitghus,  nana,  &c,  which  differ  much  when  planted 
in  different  soils  and  only  come  "  tolerably  true  from  seed,"  as  alpine 
varieties  of  the  Scotch  fir ;  if  this  were  proved  to  be  the  case,  it 
would  be  an  interesting  fact  as  showing  that  dwarfing  from  long 
exposure  to  a  severe  climate  is  to  a  certain  extent  inherited. 

The  Hawthorn  (Crataegus  oxycantha)  has  varied  much.  Besides 
endless  slighter  variations  in  the  form  of  the  leaves,  and  in  the  size, 
hardness,  fleshiness,  and  shape  of  the  berries,  Loudon165  enumerates 
twenty-nine  well-marked  varieties.  Besides  those  cultivated  for 
their  pretty  flowers,  there  are  others  with  golden-yellow,  black,  and 
whitish  berries ;  others  with  woolly  berries,  and  others  with  re- 
carved  thorns.     Loudon  truly  remarks  that  the  chief  reason  why 


159  Loudon's  '  Arboretum  et    Frutice-  paischer    Pinus-arten  von    Dr.   Christ: 

turn:'  for  Elm,  see  vol.  ill.  p.  13TC;  for  Flora,  1S64.'   He  shows  that  in  the  Ober- 

Oak,  p.  1S46.  Engadin  P.  sylvestris  and  montana  are 

i«o  '  Gardener's   Chronicle,'    1849,   p.  connected  by  intermediate  links. 

822.  164  '  Arboretum   et    Fruticetum,'  vol. 

161  '  Arboretum  et  Fruticetum,'  vol.  iv.  iv.  pp.  1159  and  21S9. 

p.  2150.  "5  ibid.,   vol.   ii.   p.   830;    Loudon'a 

182  'Gardener's  Chron.,' 1S52,  p.  693.  'Gardener's  Magazine,'  vol.  vi.  1830,  p. 

163  See  '  Beitriige  zur  Kentniss  Euro-  714. 


438  FLOWERS.  Chap.  X. 

the  hawthorn  has  yielded  more  varieties  than  most  other  trees,  is 
that  curious  nurserymen  select  any  remarkable  variety  out  of  the 
immense  beds  of  seedlings  which  are  annually  raised  for  making 
hedges.  The  flowers  of  the  Hawthorn  usually  include  from  one  to 
three  pistils ;  but  in  two  varieties,  named  Monogyna  and  Sibirica, 
there  is  only  a  single  pistil ;  and  d'Asso  states  that  the  common 
thorn  in  Spain  is  constantly  in  this  state.166  There  is  also  a  variety 
which  is  apetalous,  or  has  its  petals  reduced  to  mere  rudiments. 
The  famous  Glastonbury  thorn  flowers  and  leafs  towards  the  end  of 
December,  at  which  time  it  bears  berries  produced  from  an  earlier 
crop  of  flowers.167  It  is  worth  notice  that  several  varieties  of  the 
hawthorn,  as  well  as  of  the  lime  and  juniper,  are  very  distinct  in 
their  foliage  and  habit  whilst  young,  but  in  the  course  of  thirty  or 
forty  years  become  extremely  like  each  other  ; 168  thus  reminding  us 
of  the  well-known  fact  that  the  deodar,  the  cedar  of  Lebanon,  and 
that  of  the  Atlas,  are  distinguished  with  the  greatest  ease  whilst 
young,  but  with  difficulty  when  old. 

Flowers 

I  shall  not  for  several  reasons  treat  the  variability  of  plants  which 
are  cultivated  for  their  flowers  alone  at  any  great  length.  Many  of 
our  favourite  kinds  in  their  present  state  are  the  descendants  of  two 
or  more  species  crossed  and  commingled  together,  and  this  circum- 
stance alone  would  render  it  difficult  to  detect  the  differences  due  to 
variation.  For  instance,  our  Roses,  Petunias,  Calceolarias,  Fuchsias, 
Verbenas,  Gladioli,  Pelargoniums,  &c,  certainly  have  had  a  multiple 
origin.  A  botanist  well  acquainted  with  the  parent-forms  would 
probably  detect  some  curious  structural  differences  in  their  crossed 
and  cultivated  descendant  ;  and  he  would  certainly  observe  many 
new  and  remarkable  constitutional  peculiarities.  I  will  give  a  few 
instances,  all  relating  to  the  Pelargonium,  and  taken  chiefly  from 
Mr.  Beck,169  a  famous  cultivator  of  this  plant :  some  varieties  re- 
quire more  water  than  others ;  some  are  "  very  impatient  of  the 
knife  if  too  greedily  used  in  making  cuttings  ;"  some,  when  potted, 
scarcely  "  show  a  root  at  the  outside  of  the  ball  of  the  earth ;"  one 
variety  requires  a  certain  amount  of  confinement  in  the  pot  to  make 
it  throw  up  a  flower-stem  ;  some  varieties  bloom  well  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  season,  others  at  the  close ;  one  variety  is 
known,170  which  will  stand  "  even  pine-apple  top  and  bottom  heat, 


104  Loudon's  'Arboretum  et  Frutice-           ise  Ibid.,  vol.  xi.  1835,  p.  503. 

turn,1  vol.  ii.  p.  S34.  is9  ■  Gardener's  Chron.,'  1845,  p.  623. 

laT  Loudon's  '  Gardener's  Mag.,'  vol.           17°  D.  Beaton,  in  '  Cottage  Gardener,' 

ix.  1833,  p.  123.  1860,  p.  3T7.    See  also  Mr.  Beck,  on  the 


c.iap.  x.  FLOWERS.  439 

without  looking  any  more  drawn  than  if  it  had  stood  in  a  common 
greenhouse ;  and  Blanche  Fleur  seems  as  if  made  on  purpose  for 
growing  in  winter,  like  many  hulbs,  and  to  rest  all  summer." 
These  odd  constitutional  peculiarities  would  fit  a  plant  when  grow- 
ing in  a  state  of  nature  for  widely  different  circumstances  and 
climates. 

Flowers  possess  little  interest  under  our  present  point  of  view, 
because  they  have  been  almost  exclusively  attended  to  and  selected 
for  their  beautiful  colours,  size,  perfect  outline,  and  manner  of 
growth.  In  these  particulars  hardly  one  long-cultivated  fiowercan 
be  named  which  has  not  varied  greatly.  What  does  a  florist  care 
for  the  shape  and  structure  of  the  organs  of  fructification,  unless, 
indeed,  they  add  to  the  beauty  of  the  flower  ?  When  this  is  the 
case,  flowers  become  modified  in  important  points ;  stamens  and 
pistils  may  be  converted  into  petals,  and  additional  petals  may  be 
developed,  as  in  all  dotible  flowrers.  The  process  of  gradual  selection 
by  which  flowers  have  been  rendered  more  and  more  double,  each 
step  in  the  process  of  conversion  being  inherited,  has  been  recorded 
in  several  instances.  In  the  so-called  double  flowers  of  the  Composite, 
the  corollas  of  the  central  florets  are  greatly  modified,  and  the  modifi- 
cations are  likewise  inherited.  In  the  columbine  (Aquilegia  vulgaris) 
some  of  the  stamens  are  converted  into  petals  having  the  shape  of 
nectaries,  one  neatly  fitting  into  the  other  ;  but  in  one  variety  they 
are  converted  into  simple  petals.171  In  the  hose  and  hose  primula?, 
the  calyx  becomes  brightly  coloured  and  enlarged  so^as  to  resemble 
a  corolla  ;  and  Mr.  W.  Wooler  informs  me  that  this  peculiarity  is 
transmitted ;  for  he  crossed  a  common  polyanthus  with  one  having 
a  coloured  calyx,172  and  some  of  the  seedlings  inherited  the  coloured 
calyx  during  at  least  six  generations.  In  the  "  hen-and-chicken " 
daisy  the  main  flower  is  surrounded  by  a  brood  of  small  flowers  de- 
veloped from  buds  in  the  axils  of  the  scales  of  the  involucre.  A 
wonderful  poppy  has  been  described,  in  which  the  stamens  are  con- 
verted into  pistils  ;  and  so  strictly  was  this  peculiarity  inherited  that, 
out  of  154  seedlings,  one  alone  reverted  to  the  ordinary  and  common 
type.173  Of  the  cock's-comb  (Celosia  cviitata),  which  is  an  annual, 
there  are  several  races  in  which  the  flower-stem  is  wonderfully 
"  fasciated"  or  compressed  ;  and  one  has  been  exhibited  171  actually 
eighteen  inches  in  breadth.    Peloric  races  of  Gloxinia  speciosa  and 


habits  of   Queen  Mab,   in   '  Gardener's  p.  133. 

Chronicle,'  1S45,  p.  226.  m  Quoted     by    Alph.    de     Candolle, 

171  Moquin-Tandon,     'Elements     de  'Bibl.  Univ.,'  November,  1S62,  p.  5S. 

Teratologic,'  1S41,  p.  213.  174  Knight,  '  Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol. 

178  See  also  '  Cottage  Gardener,'  1860,  iv.  p.  322. 


440  FLOWERS.  Chap.  X. 

AntirrJrinum  majus  can  be  propagated  by  seed,  and  they  differ  in  a 
wonderful  manner  from  the  typical  form  both  in  structure  and  ap- 
pearance. 

A  much  more  remarkable  modification  has  been  recorded  by  Sir 
William  and  Dr.  Hooker  m  in  Begonia  frigida.  This  plant  properly 
produces  male  and  female  flowers  on  the  same  fascicles ;  and  in  the 
female  flowers  the  perianth  is  superior ;  but  a  plant  at  Kew  produced, 
besides  the  ordinary  flowers,  others  which  graduated  towards  a  per- 
fect hermaphrodite  structure  ;  and  in  these  flowers  the  perianth  was 
inferior.  To  show  the  importance  of  this  modification  under  a  classi- 
ficatory  point  of  view,  I  may  quote  what  Prof.  Harvey  says,  namely, 
that  had  it  "  occurred  in  a  state  of  nature,  and  had  a  botanist  col- 
lected a  plant  with  such  flowers,  he  would  not  only  have  placed  it 
in  a  distinct  genus  from  Begonia,  but  would  probably  have  con- 
sidered it  as  the  type  of  a  new  natural  order."  This  modification 
cannot  in  one  sense  be  considered  as  a  monstrosity,  for  analogous 
structures  naturally  occur  in  other  orders,  as  with  Saxifragas  and 
Aristolochiace*.  The  interest  of  the  case  is  largely  added  to  by  Mr. 
C.  W.  Crocker's  observation  that  seedlings  from  the  normal  flowers 
produced  plants  which  bore*,  in  about  the  same  proportion  as  the 
parent-plant,  hermaphrodite  flowers  having  inferior  perianths.  The 
hermaphrodite  flowers  fertilised  with  their  own  pollen  were  sterile. 

If  florists  had  attended  to,  selected,  and  propagated  by  seed  other 
modifications  of  structure  besides  those  which  are  beautiful,  a  host 
of  curious  varieties  would  certainly  have  been  raised ;  and  they 
would  probably  have  transmitted  their  characters  so  truly  that  the 
cultivator  would  have  felt  aggrieved,  as  in  the  case  of  culinary 
vegetables,  if  his  whole  bed  had  not  presented  a  uniform  appearance. 
Florists  have  attended  in  some  instances  to  the  leaves  of  their  plant, 
and  have  thus  produced  the  most  elegant  and  symmetrical  patterns 
of  white,  red,  and  green,  Avhich,  as  in  the  case  of  the  pelargonium,  are 
sometimes  strictly  inherited.176  Any  one  who  will  habitually  examine 
highly-cultivated  flowers  in  gardens  and  greenhouses  •will  observe 
numerous  deviations  in  structure ;  but  most  of  these  must  be  ranked 
as  mere  monstrosities,  and  are  only  so  far  interesting  as  showing 
how  plastic  the  organisation  becomes  under  high  cultivation.    From 


175  '  Botanical  Magazine,'  tab.  5160,  Bot.,' p.  1083;  'Gard.  Chronicle,' 1861, 
fig.  4  ;  Dr.  Hooker,  in  '  Gardener's  p.  433.  The  inheritance  of  the  white 
Chron.,'  1860,  p.  190  ;  Prof.  Harvey,  in  and  golden  zones  in  Pelargonium  largely 
'Gardener's  Chron.,'  I860,  p.  145  :  Mr.  depends  on  the  nature  of  the  soil.  See 
Crocker,  in  'Gardener's  Chron.,'  1861,  D.  Beaton,  in  '  Journal  of  Horticulture,' 
p.  1092.  1861,  p.  64. 

176  Alph.    de    Candolle,    '  Geograph. 


Chap.  X.  FLOWERS.  441 

this  point  of  view  such  works  as  Professor  Moquin-Tandon'a  '  Tera- 
tologic '  are  highly  instructive. 

Roses. — These  flowers  offer  an  instance  of  a  number  of  forms 
generally  ranked  as  species,  namely,  R.  centifolia,  gallica,  alba,  da- 
mascena,  spinosissima,  bracteata,  Indica,  scmpcrfiorens,  moschata,  &c, 
which  have  largely  varied  and  been  intercrossed.  The  genus  Rosa 
is  a  notoriously  difficult  one,  and  though  some  of  the  above  forms 
are  admitted  by  all  botanists  to  be  distinct  species,  others  are  doubt- 
ful ;  thus,  with  respect  to  the  British  forms,  Babington  makes  seven- 
teen, and  Bentham  only  five  species.  The  hybrids  from  some  of  the 
most  distinct  forms — for  instance,  from  R.  Indica,  fertilised  by  the 
pollen  of  R.  centifolia — produce  an  abundance  of  seed  ;  I  state  this 
on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Rivers,277  from  whose  work  I  have  drawn 
most  of  the  following  statements.  As  almost  all  the  aboriginal 
forms  brought  from  different  countries  have  been  crossed  and  re- 
crossed,  it  is  no  wonder  that  Targioni-Tozzetti,  in  speaking  of  the 
common  roses  of  the  Italian  gardens,  remarks  that  "  the  native 
coxintry  and  precise  form  of  the  wild  type  of  most  of  them  are  in- 
volved in  much  uncertainty."  178  Nevertheless  Mr.  Rivers  in  refer- 
ring to  R.  Indica  (p.  68)  says  that  the  descendants  of  each  group 
may  generally  be  recognised  by  a  close  observer.  The  same  author 
often  speaks  of  roses  as  having  been  a  little  hybridised  ;  but  it  is 
evident  that  in  very  many  cases  the  differences  due  to  variation  and 
to  hybridisation  can  now  only  be  conjecturally  distinguished. 

The  species  have  varied  both  by  seed  and  by  buds ;  such  modified 
buds  being  often  called  by  gardeners  sports.  In  the  following  chap- 
ter I  shall  fully  discuss  this  latter  subject,  and  shall  show  that  bud- 
variations  can  be  propagated  not  only  by  grafting  and  budding,  but 
often  even  by  seed.  Whenever  a  new  rose  appears  with  any  pecu- 
liar character,  however  produced,  if  it  yields  seed,  Mr.  Rivers  (p.  4) 
fully  expects  it  to  become  the  parent-type  of  a  new  family.  The 
tendency  to  vary  is  so  strong  in  some  kinds,  as  in  the  Village  Maid 
(Rivers,  p.  16),  that  when  grown  in  different  soils  it  varies  so  much 
in  colour  that  it  has  been  thought  to  form  several  distinct  kinds. 
Altogether  the  number  of  kinds  is  very  great :  thus  M.  Desportes, 
in  his  Catalogue  for  1829,  enumerates  2562  as  cultivated  in  France ; 
but  no  doubt  a  large  proportion  of  these  are  merely  nominal. 

It  would  be  useless  to  specify  the  many  points  of  difference  be- 
tween the  various  kinds,  but  some  constitutional  peculiarities  may 
be  mentioned.    Several  French  roses  (Rivers,  p.  12)  will  not  succeed 


m  '  Rose  Amateur's  Guide,'  T.  Rivers,  ,78  '  Journal  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  ix.  1866, 

188T,  p.  21.  p.  182. 

19* 


442  FLO  WEES.  Chap.  X. 

in  England ;  and  an  excellent  horticulturist 1T9  remarks,  that  "  Even 
in  the  same  garden  you  will  find  that  a  rose  that  will  do  nothing 
under  a  south  wall  will  do  well  under  a  north  one.  That  is  the  case 
with  Paul  Joseph  here.  It  grows  strongly  and  blooms  beautifully 
close  to  a  north  wall.  For  three  years  seven  plants  have  done  noth- 
ing under  a  south  wall."  Many  roses  can  be  forced,  "  many  are  to- 
tally unfit  for  forcing,  among  which  is  General  Jacqueminot."  18° 
From  the  effects  of  crossing  and  variation  Mr.  Hi  vers  enthusiastically 
anticipates  (p.  87)  that  the  day  will  come  when  all  our  roses,  even 
moss-roses,  will  have  evergreen  foliage,  brilliant  and  fragrant  flowers, 
and  the  habit  of  blooming  from  June  till  November.  "  A  distant 
■  view  this  seems,  but  perseverance  in  gardening  will  yet  achieve 
wonders,"  as  assuredly  it  has  already  achieved  wonders. 

It  may  be  worth  while  briefly  to  give  the  well-known  history  of 
one  class  of  roses.  In  1793  some  wild  Scotch  roses  (B.  spinosissima) 
were  transplanted  into  a  garden  ; iei  and  one  of  these  bore  flowers 
slightly  tinged  with  red,  from  which  a  plant  was  raised  with  semi- 
monstrous  flowers,  also  tinged  with  red  ;  seedlings  from  this  flower 
were  semi-double,  and  by  continued  selection,  in  about  nine  or  ten 
years,  eight  sub-varieties  were  raised.  In  the  course  of  less  than 
twenty  years  these  double  Scotch  roses  had  so  much  increased  in 
number  and  kind,  that  twenty-six  well-marked  varieties,  classed  in 
eight  sections,  were  described  by  Mr.  Sabine.  In  1841 182  it  is  said 
that  three  hundred  varieties  could  be  procured  in  the  nursery-gar- 
dens near  Glasgow  ;  and  these  are  described  as  blush,  crimson,  pur- 
ple, red,  marbled,  two-coloured,  white,  and  yellow,  and  as  differing 
much  in  the  size  and  shape  of  the  flower. 

Pansy  or  Heartsease  ( Viola  tricolor,  &c). — The  history  of  this 
flower  seems  to  be  pretty  well  known ;  it  was  grown  in  Evelyn's 
garden  in  1687  ;  but  the  varieties  were  not  attended  to  till  1810- 
1812,  when  Lady  Monke,  together  with  Mr.  Lee  the  well-known 
nurseryman,  energetically  commenced  their  culture  ;  and  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years  twenty  varieties  could  be  purchased.1"3  At 
about  the  same  period,  namely  in  1813  or  1814,  Lord  Gambier  col- 
lected some  wild  plants,  and  his  gardener,  Mr.  Thomson,  cultivated 
them  together  with  some  common  garden  varieties,  and  soon  effect- 
ed a  great  improvement.   The  first  great  change  was  the  conversion 


"9  The  Rev.  W.  F.  Radclyffe,  in  'Jour-  I82  '  An  Encyclop.  of  Plants,'  by  J.  0. 

nal  of  Horticulture,'  March  14,  1865,  p.  Loudon,  1841,  p.  443. 

207.  183  Loudon's  '  Gardener's  Magazine,' 

ieo  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1S61,  p.  46.  vol.  xi.  1835,  p.  427;  also  'Journal  of 

J8»  Mr.   Sabine,  in  'Transact.   Hort.  Horticulture,'  April  14, 1S63, p.  275. 

Soc.,'  vol.  iv.  p.  285. 


Chap.  X.  FLOWFKS.  443 

of  the  dark  lines  in  the  centre  of  the  flower  into  a  dark  eye  or  centre, 
which  at  that  period  had  never  been  seen,  but  is  now  considered 
one  of  the  chief  requisites  of  a  first-rate  flower.  In  1835  a  book 
entirely  devoted  to  this  flower  was  published,  and  four  hundred 
named  varieties  were  on  sale.  From  these  circumstances  this  plant 
seemed  to  me  worth  studying,  more  especially  from  the  great  con- 
trast between  the  small,  dull,  elongated,  irregular  flowers  of  the 
wild  pansy,  and  the  beautiful,  flat,  symmetrical,  circular,  velvet-like 
flowers,  more  than  two  inches  in  diameter,  magnificently  and  va- 
riously coloured,  which  are  exhibited  at  our  shows.  But  when  I 
came  to  inquire  more  closely,  I  found  that,  though  the  varieties  were 
so  modern,  yet  that  much  confusion  and  doubt  prevailed  about  their 
parentage.  Florists  believed  that  the  varieties  1S4  are  descended 
from  several  wild  stocks,  namely,  V.  tricolor,  lutea,  grandiflora, 
am<ena,  and  Altaica,  more  or  less  intercrossed.  And  when  I  looked  to 
botanical  works  to  ascertain  whether  these  forms  ought  to  be  rank- 
ed as  species,  I  found  equal  doubt  and  confusion.  Viola  Altaica 
seems  to  be  a  distinct  form,  but  what  part  it  has  played  in  the  origin 
of  our  varieties  I  know  not ;  it  is  said  to  have  been  crossed  with 
V.  lutea.  Viola  ammna ies  is  now  looked  at  by  all  botanists  as  a 
natural  variety  of  V.  grandiflora;  and  this  and  V.  sudctica  have 
been  proved  to  be  identical  with  V.  lutea.  The  latter  and  V.  tricolor 
(including  its  admitted  variety  V.  arvensis)  are  ranked  as  distinct 
species  by  Babington  ;  and  likewise  by  M.  Gay,1"6  who  has  paid  par- 
ticular attention  to  the  genus  ;  but  the  specific  distinction  between 
V.  lutea  and  tricolor  "is  chiefly  grounded  on  the  one  being  strictly 
and  the  other  not  strictly  perennial,  as  well  as  on  some  other  slight 
and  unimportant  differences  in  the  form  of  the  stem  and  stipules. 
Bentham  unites  these  two  forms  ;  and  a  high  authority  on  such  mat- 
ters, Mr.  H.  C.  Watson,187  says  that,  "  while  V.  tricolor  passes  into 
V.  arvensis  on  the  one  side,  it  approximates  so  much  towards  V.  la- 
tea  and  V.  Curtisii  on  the  other  side,  that  a  distinction  becomes 
scarcely  more  easy  between  them." 

Hence,  after  having  carefully  compared  numerous  varieties,  I 
gave  up  the  attempt  as  too  difficult  for  any  one  except  a  professed 
botanist.  Most  of  the  varieties  present  such  inconstant  characters, 
that  when  grown  in  poor  soil,  or   when  flowering  out  of  their 


184  Loudon's  '  Gardener's  Magazine,'  Mag.,'  vol.  i.  1S35,  p.  159. 

Tol.  viii.  p.  575 ;  vol.  ix.  p.  689.  I87  '  Cybele  Britannica,'  vol.  i.  p.  173. 

185  Sir  J.  E.  Smith,  '  English  Flora,'  See  also  Dr.  Herbert  on  the  changes  of 
vol.  i.  p.  306.  H.  C.  Watson,  '  Cybele  colour  in  transplanted  specimens,  and 
Britannica,'  vol.  i.  1S47,  p.  181.  on  the  natural  variations  of  V.  grandi- 

186  Quoted  from  'Annales  des  Sci-  flora,  in  'Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,'  voL  iv. 
ences,'  in  the  Companion  to  the  '  Bot.  p.  19. 


444  FLOWERS.  Chap.  X. 

proper  season,  they  produce  differently  coloured  and  much  smaller 
flowers.  Cultivators  speak  of  this  or  that  kind  as  being  remarkably 
constant  or  true  ;  but  by  this  they  do  not  mean,  as  in  other  cases, 
that  the  kind  transmits  its  character  by  seed,  but  tbat  the  individual 
plant  does  not  change  much  under  culture.  The  principle  of  in- 
heritance, however,  does  hold  good  to  a  certain  extent  even  with  the 
fleeting  varieties  of  the  Heartease,  for  to  gain  good  sorts  it  is  indis- 
pensable to  sow  the  seed  of  good  sorts.  Nevertheless  in  every  large 
seed-bed  a  few  almost  wild  seedlings  often  reappear  through  rever- 
sion. On  comparing  the  choicest  varieties  with  the  nearest  allied 
wild  forms,  besides  the  difference  in  the  size,  outline,  and  colour  of 
the  flowers,  the  leaves  are  seen  sometimes  to  differ  in  shape,  as  does 
the  calyx  occasionally  in  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  sepals.  The 
differences  in  the  form  of  the  nectary  more  especially  deserve  notice  ; 
because  characters  derived  from  this  organ  have  been  much  used  in 
the  discrimination  of  most  of  the  species  of  Viola.  In  a  large  num- 
ber of  flowers  compared  in  1842  I  found  that  in  the  greater  number 
the  nectary  was  straight ;  in  others  the  extremity  was  a  little  turned 
upwards,  or  downwards,  or  inwards,  so  as  to  be  completely  hooked  ; 
in  others,  instead  of  being  hooked,  it  was  first  turned  rectangularly 
downwards,  and  then  backwards  and  upwards ;  in  others  the  ex- 
tremity was  considerably  enlarged  ;  and  lastly,  in  some  the  basal 
part  was  depressed,  becoming,  as  usual,  laterally  compressed  to- 
wards the  extremity.  In  a  large  number  of  flowers,  on  the  other 
hand,  examined  by  me  in  1856  from  a  nursery -garden  in  a  different 
part  of  England,  the  nectary  hardly  varied  at  all.  Now  M.  Gay 
says  that  in  certain  districts,  especially  in  Auvergne,  the  nectary  of 
wild  V .  grandiflora  varies  in  the  manner  just  described.  Must  we 
conclude  from  this  that  the  cultivated  varieties  first  mentioned  were 
all  descended  from  V.  grandiflora,  and  that  the  second  lot,  though 
having  the  same  general  appearance,  were  descended  from  V.  tri- 
color, of  which  the  nectary,  according  to  M.  Gay,  is  subject  to  little 
variation  ?  Or  is  it  not  more  probable  that  both  these  wild  forms 
would  be  found  under  other  conditions  to  vary  in  the  same  manner 
and  degree,  thus  showing  that  they  ought  not  to  be  ranked  as 
specifically  distinct  ? 

The  Dahlia  has  been  referred  to  by  almost  every  author  who  has 
written  on  the  variation  of  plants,  because  it  is  believed  that  all  the 
varieties  are  descended  from  a  single  species,  and  because  all  have 
arisen  since  1802  in  France,  and  since  1804  in  England.1"^  Mr. 
Sabine  remarks  that  "  it  seems  as  if  some  period  of  cultivation  had 


188  Salisbury,  in  'Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  i.  1812,  pp..  S4,  92.    A  semi-double 
variety  was  produced  in  Madrid  in  1790. 


Chap.  X  FLOWERS.  445 

been  required  before  the  fixed  qualities  of  the  native  plant  gave  way 
and  began  to  sport  into  those  changes  which  now  so  delight  us."  ia9 
The  flowers  have  been  greatly  modified  in  shape  from  a  flat  to  a 
globular  form.  Anemone  and  ranunculus-like  races,100  which  differ 
in  the  form  and  arrangement  of  the  florets,  have  arisen  ;  also 
dwarfed  races,  one  of  which  is  only  eighteen  inches  in  height.  The 
seeds  vary  much  in  size.  The  petals  are  uniformly  coloured  or 
tipped  or  striped,  and  present  an  almost  infinite  diversity  of  tints. 
Seedlings  of  fourteen  different  colours 191  have  been  raised  from  the 
same  plant ;  yet,  as  Mr.  Sabine  has  remarked,  "  many  of  the  seed- 
lings follow  their  parents  in  colour."  The  period  of  flowering  has 
been  considerably  hastened,  and  this  has  probably  been  effected  by 
continued  selection.  Salisbury,  writing  1808,  says  that  they  then 
flowered  from  September  to  November ;  in  1828  some  new  dwarf 
varieties  began  flowering  in  June  ;m  and  Mr.  Grieve  informs  me 
that  the  dwarf  purple  Zelinda  in  his  garden  is  in  full  bloom  by  the 
middle  of  June  and  sometimes  even  earlier.  Slight  constitutional 
differences  have  been  observed  between  certain  varieties  :  thus,  some 
kinds  succeed  much  better  in  one  part  of  England  than  in  another;193 
and  it  has  been  noticed  that  some  varieties  require  much  more  mois- 
ture than  others.194 

Such  flowers  as  the  carnation,  common  tulip,  and  hyacinth,  which 
are  believed  to  be  descended,  each  from  a  single  wild  form,  present 
innumerable  varieties,  differing  almost  exclusively  in  the  size,  form, 
and  colour  of  the  flowers.  These  and  some  other  anciently  cultivated 
plants  which  ha ve*  been  long  propagated  by  offsets,  pipings,  bulbs, 
&c.,  become  so  excessively  variable,  that  almost  each  new  plant 
raised  from  seed  forms  a  new  variety,  "  all  of  which  to  describe 
particularly,"  as  old  Gerarde  wrote  in  1597,  "were  to  roll  Sisyphus's 
stone,  or  to  number  the  sands." 

Hyacinth  (Hyacinthus  orientalis). — It  may,  however,  be  worth 
while  to  give  a  short  account  of  this  plant,  which  was  introduced 
into  England  in  1596  from  the  Levant.195  The  petals  of  the  original 
flower,  says  Mr.  Paul,  were  narrow,  wrinkled,  pointed,  and  of  a 
flimsy  texture ;   now  they  are  broad,  smooth,  solid,  and  rounded. 


189  < Transact.  Hort.    Soc.,'    vol.    iii.  193   Mr.     Wildman,    in    'Gardener's 
1S20,  p.  225.  Chron.,'  1843,  p.  8T. 

190  Loudon's  '  Gardener's  Mag.,'  vol.  194  '  Cottage  Gardener,'  April  8, 1S56, 
vi.  lS30,p.  77.  p.  83. 

191  Loudon's   'Encyclop.    of  Garden-  I96  The  best  and  fullest  account  of 
ing,'  p.  1035.  this  plant  which  I  have  met  with  is  by 

192 'Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,' vol.  i.  p.  91  ;  a  famous    horticulturist,  Mr.    Paul    of 

and  Loudon's  'Gardener's   Mag.,'   vol.  Waltham,  in  the  '  Gardener's  Chronicle,' 

ii.  1828,  p.  179.  1SG4,  p.  342. 


446  FLOWERS.  Chap.  X. 

The  erectness,  breadth,  and  length  of  the  whole  spike,  and  the  size 
of  the  flowers,  have  all  increased.  The  colours  have  been  intensified 
and  diversified.  Gerarde,  in  1597,  enumerates  four,  and  Parkinson, 
in  1629,  eight  varieties.  Now  the  varieties  are  very  numerous,  and 
they  were  still  more  numerous  a  century  ago.  Mr.  Paul  remarks 
that  "  it  is  interesting  to  compare  the  Hyacinths  of  1629  with  those 
"  of  1864,  and  to  mark  the  improvement.  Two  hundred  and  thirty- 
"  five  years  have  elapsed  since  then,  and  this  simple  flower  serves 
"  well  to  illustrate  the  great  fact  that  the  original  forms  of  nature 
"  do  not  remain  fixed  and  stationary, -at  least  when  brought  under 
"  cultivation.  While  looking  at  the  extremes,  we  must  not  how- 
"  ever  forget  that  there  are  intermediate  stages  which  are  for  the 
"  most  part  lost  to  us.  Nature  will  sometimes  indulge  herself  with 
"  a  leap,  but  as  a  rule  her  march  is  slow  and  gradual."  He  adds 
that  the  cultivator  should  have  "  in  his  mind  an  ideal  of  beauty,  for 
"  the  realisation  of  which  he  works  with  head  and  hand."  We  thus 
see  how  clearly  Mr.  Paul,  an  eminently  successful  cultivator  of  this 
flower,  appreciates  the  action  of  methodical  selection. 

In  a  curious  and  apparently  trustworthy  treatise,  published  at 
Amsterdam196  in  1768,  it  is  stated  that  nearly  2000  sorts  were  then 
known  ;  but  in  1864  Mr.  Paul  found  only  700  in  the  largest  garden 
at  Haarlem.  In  this  treatise  it  is  said  that  not  an  instance  is  known 
of  any  one  variety  reproducing  itself  truly  by  seed :  the  white  kinds, 
however,  now  m  almost  always  yield  white  hyacinths,  and  the  yel- 
low kinds  come  nearly  true.  The  hyacinth  is  remarkable  from  hav- 
ing given  rise  to  varieties  with  bright  blue,  pink,  and  distinctly 
yellow  flowers.  These  three  primary  colours  do  not  occur  in  the 
varieties  of  any  other  species ;  nor  do  they  often  all  occur  even  in 
the  distinct  species  of  the  same  genus.  Although  the  several  kinds 
of  hyacinths  differ  but  slightly  from  each  other  except  in  colour,  yet 
each  kind  has  its  own  individual  character,  which  can  be  recognised 
by  a  highly  educated  eye  ;  thus  the  writer  of  the  Amsterdam  trea- 
tise asserts  (p.  43)  that  some  experienced  florists,  such  as  the  famous 
G.  Voorholm,  seldom  failed  in  a  collection  of  above  twelve  hundred 
sorts  to  recognise  each  variety  by  the  bulb  alone !  This  same  writer 
mentions  some  few  singular  variations :  for  instance,  the  hyacinth 
commonly  produces  six  leaves,  but  there  is  one  kind  (p.  35)  which 
scarcely  ever  has  more  than  three  leaves  ;  another  never  more  than 
five ;  whilst  others  regularly  produce  either  seven  or  eight  leaves. 
A  variety,  called  la  Coriphee,  invariably  produces  (p.  116)  two  flower- 


196  '  Des  Jacinthes,  de  leur  Anatomie,  197  Alph.   de    Candolle,    '  Geograph. 

Reproduction,  et  Culture,'  Amsterdam,        Bot.,'  p.  1082. 
1768. 


Chap.  X.  FLOWERS.  447 

stems,  united  together  and  covered  by  one  skin.  The  flower-stem 
in  another  kind  (p.  128)  comes  out  of  the  ground  in  a  coloured 
sheath,  before  the  appearance  of  the  leaves,  and  is  consequently  lia- 
ble to  suffer  from  frost.  Another  variety  always  pushes  a  second 
flower-stem  after  the  first  has  begun  to  develop  itself.  Lastly,  white 
hyacinths  with  red,  purple,  or  violet  centres  (p.  129)  are  the  most 
liable  to  rot.  Thus,  the  hyacinth,  like  so  many  previous  plants, 
when  long  cultivated  and  closely  watched,  is  found  to  offer  many 
singular  variations. 

In  the  two  last  chapters  I  have  given  in  some  detail 
the  range  of  variation,  and  the  history,  as  far  as  known, 
of  a  considerable  number  of  plants,  which  have  been  cul- 
tivated for  various  purposes.  But  some  of  the  most  va- 
riable plants,  such  as  Kidney-beans,  Capsicum,  Millets, 
Sorghum,  &c.,  have  been  passed  over;  for  botanists  are 
not  agreed  which  kinds  ought  to  rank  as  species  and 
which  as  varieties ;  and  the  wild  parent-species  are  un- 
known.193 Many  plants  long  cultivated  in  tropical  coun- 
tries, such  as  the  Banana,  have  produced  numerous  varie- 
ties;  but  as  these  have  never  been  described  with  even 
moderate  care,  £hey  also  are  here  passed  over.  Never- 
theless a  sufficient,  and  perhaps  more  than  sufficient,  num- 
ber of  cases  have  been  given,  so  that  the  reader  may  be 
enabled  to  judge  for  himself  on  the  nature  and  extent  of 
the  variation  Avhich  cultivated  plants  have  undergone. 


1,8  Alph.  de  Candolle,  '  Geograph.  Bot.,'  p. 


448  BUD- VARIATION.  Chap.  XI. 


CHAPTEPw  XI. 

ON    BUD-VARIATION,    AND    ON    CERTAIN    ANOMALOUS 
MODES    OF   REPRODUCTION   AND    VARIATION. 

BUD-VARIATIONS  IN  THE  PEACH,  PLUM,  CHERRY,  VINE,  GOOSE- 
BERRY, CURRANT,  AND  BANANA,  AS  SHOWN  BY  THE  MODIFIED 
FRUIT  —  IN  FLOWERS  :  CAMELLIAS,  AZALEAS,  CHRYSANTHEMUMS, 
ROSES,  ETC.  —  ON  THE  RUNNING  OF  THE  COLOUR  IN  CARNATION8 
— BUD- VARIATIONS  IN  LEAVES  —  VARIATIONS  BY  SUCKERS,  TU- 
BERS, AND  BULBS  —  ON  THE  BREAKING  OF  TULIPS  —  BUD- VARIA- 
TIONS GRADUATE  INTO  CHANGES  CONSEQUENT  ON  CHANGED 
CONDITIONS  OF  LIFE  —  CYTISUS  ADAMI,  ITS  ORIGIN  AND  TRANS- 
FORMATION—  ON  THE  UNION  OF  TWO  DIFFERENT  EMBRYOS  IN 
ONE  SEED — THE  TRIFACIAL  ORANGE  —  ON  REVERSION  BY  BUDS 
IN  HYBRIDS  AND  MONGRELS  —  ON  THE  PRODUCTION  OF  MODIFIED 
BUDS  BY  THE  GRAFTING  OF  ONE  VARIETY  OR  SPECIES  ON 
ANOTHER  —  ON  THE  DIRECT  OR  IMMEDIATE  ACTION  OF  FOREIGN 
POLLEN  ON  THE  MOTHER-PLANT  —  ON  THE  EFFECTS  IN  FEMALE 
ANIMALS  OF  A  FIRST  IMPREGNATION  ON  THE  SUBSEQUENT  OFF- 
SPRING —  CONCLUSION  AND  SUMMARY. 

This  chapter  will  be  chiefly  devoted  to  a  subject  in  many- 
respects  important,  namely,  bud-variation.  By  this  term 
I  include  all  those  sudden  changes  in  structure  or  ap- 
pearance which  occasionally  occur  in  full-grown  plants 
in  their  flower-buds  or  leaf-buds.  Gardeners  call  such 
changes  "  Sports ; "  but  this,  as  previously  remarked,  is 
an  ill-defined  expression,  as  it  has  often  been  applied  to 
strongly  marked  variations  in  seedling  plants.  The  dif- 
ference between  seminal  and  bud  reproduction  is  not 
so  great  as  it  at  first  appears ;  for  each  bud  is  in  one 
sense  a  new  and  distinct  individual ;  but  such  indi- 
viduals are  produced  through  the  formation  of  various 


Chap.  XI.  Fit  CUT.  449 

kinds  of  buds  without  the  aid  of  any  special  apparatus, 
whilst  fertile  seeds  are  produced  "by  the  concourse  of  the 
two  sexual  elements.  The  modifications  which  arise 
through  bud-variation  can  generally  be  propagated  to 
any  extent  by  grafting,  budding,  cuttings,  bulbs,  &c, 
and  occasionally  even  by  seed.  Some  few  of  our  most 
beautiful  and  useful  productions  have  arisen  by  bud- 
variation. 

Bud-variations  have  as  yet  been  observed  only  in  the 
vegetable  kingdom ;  but  it  is  probable  that  if  compound 
animals,  such  as  corals,  &c,  had  been  subjected  to  a  long 
course  of  domestication,  they  woidd  have  varied  by  buds ; 
for  they  resemble  plants  in  many  respects.  Thus  any 
new  or  peculiar  character  presented  by  a  compound 
animal  is  propagated  by  budding,  as  occurs  with  differ- 
ently coloured  Hydras,  and  as  Mr.  Gosse  has  shown  to 
be  the  case  with  a,  singular  variety  of  a  true  coral.  Va- 
rieties of  the  Hydra  have  also  been  grafted  on  other 
varieties,  and  have  retained  their  character. 

I  will  in  the  first  place  give  all  the  cases  of  bud-varia- 
tions which  I  have  been  able  to  collect,  and  afterwards 
show  their  importance.  These  cases  prove  that  those 
authors  wTho,  like  Pallas,  attribute  all  variability  to  the 
crossing  either  of  distinct  races,  or  of  individuals  belong- 
ing to  the  same  race  but  somewhat  different  from  each 
other,  are  in  error ;  as  are  those  authors  who  attribute 
all  variability  to  the  mei'e  act  of  sexual  union.  Nor  can 
we  account  in  all  cases  for  the  appearance  through  bud- 
variation  of  new  characters  by  the  principle  of  reversion 
to  long-lost  characters.  He  who  wishes  to  judge  how 
fir  the  conditions  of  life  directly  cause  each  particular 
variation  ought  to  reflect  well  on  the  cases  immediately 
to  be  given.  I  will  commence  with  bud-variations,  as 
exhibited  in  the  fruit,  and  then  pass  on  to  flowers,  and 
finally  to  leaves. 

Peach  (Amygdalus  Persica). — In  the  last  chapter  I  gave  two 


450  BUD- VARIATION.  Chap.  XI 

cases  of  a  peach-almond  and  double-flowered  almond  which  sudden- 
ly produced  fruit  closely  resembling  true  peaches.  I  have  also 
recorded  many  cases  of  peach-trees  producing  buds,  which,  when 
developed  into  branches,  have  yielded  nectarines.  We  have  seen 
that  no  less  than  six  named  and  several  unnamed  varieties  of  the 
peach  have  thus  produced  several  varieties  of  nectarine.  I  have 
shown  that  it  is  highly  improbable  that  all  these  peach-trees,  some 
of  which  are  old  varieties,  and  have  been  propagated  by  the  mil- 
lion, are  hybrids  from  the  peach  and  nectarine,  and  that  it  is 
opposed  to  all  analogy  to  attribute  the  occasional  production  of 
nectarines  on  peach-trees  to  the  direct  action  of  pollen  from  some 
neighbouring  nectarine-tree.  Several  of  the  cases  are  highly  re- 
markable, because,  firstly,  the  fruit  thus  produced  has  sometimes 
been  in  part  a  nectarine  and  in  part  a  peach  ;  secondly,  because 
nectarines  thus  suddenly  produced  have  reproduced  themselves  by 
seed  ;  and  thirdly,  because  nectarines  are  produced  from  peach-trees 
from  seed  as  well  as  from  buds.  The  seed  of  the  nectarine,  on  the 
other  hand,  occasionally  produces  peaches  ;  and  we  have  seen  in 
one  instance  that  a  nectarine-tree  yielded  peaches  by  bud- variation. 
As  the  peach  is  certainly  the  oldest  or  primary  variety,  the  pro- 
duction of  peaches  from  nectarines,  either  by  seeds  or  buds,  may 
perhaps  be  considered  as  a  case  of  reversion.  Certain  trees  have 
also  been  described  as  indifferently  bearing  peaches  or  nectarines, 
and  this  may  be  considered  as  bud- variation  carried  to  an  extreme 
degree. 

The  grosse  mignonne  peach  at  Montreuil  produced  "  from  a  sport- 
ing branch"  the  grosse  mignonne  tardive,  "  a  most  excellent  varie- 
ty," which  ripens  its  fruit  a  fortnight  later  than  the  parent  tree, 
and  is  equally  good.1  This  same  peach  has  likewise  produced  by 
bud-variation  the  early  grosse  mignonne.  Hunt's  large  tawny  nec- 
tarine "  originated  from  Hunt's  small  tawny  nectarine,  but  not 
through  seminal  reproduction." 2 

Plums. — Mr.  Knight  states  that  a  tree  of  the  yellow  magnum 
bonum  plum,  forty  years  old,  which  had  always  borne  ordinary 
fruit,  produced  a  branch  which  yielded  red  magnum  bonums.3 
Mr.  Rivers,  of  Sawbridgeworth,  informs  me  (Jan.  1863)  that  a  sin- 
gle tree  out  of  400  or  500  trees  of  the  Early  Prolific  plum,  which 
is  a  purple  kind,  descended  from  an  old  French  variety  bearing 
purple  fruit,  produced  when  about  ten  years  old  bright  yellow 
plums;  these  differed  in  no  respect  except  colour  from  those  on 


i  '  Gardener's  Chron.,'  1854,  p.  821.  m  821.    For  the  Early  mignonne  peach, 

*  '  Lindley's   Guide    to    Orchard,'   as        see  '  Gardener's  Chron.,'  1S64,  p.  1251. 

juoted  in   '  Gard.   Chronicle,'  1852j   p.  3  '  Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  ii.  p.  160. 


Chap.  XI.  FRUIT.  451 

the  other  trees,  hut  were  unlike  any  other  known  kind  of  yellow 
plum.4 

Cherry  (Prunvs  cerasus). — Mr.  Knight  has  recorded  (idem)  the 
case  of  a  hranch  of  a  May-Duke  cherry,  which,  though  certainly 
never  grafted,  always  produced  fruit,  ripening  later,  and  more  ob- 
long, than  the  fruit  on  the  other  branches,  Another  account  has 
been  given  of  two  May-Duke  cherry-trees  in  Scotland,  with  branches 
bearing  oblong,  and  very  fine  fruit,  which  invariably  ripened,  as  in 
Knight's  case,  a  fortnight  later  than  the  other  cherries.5 

Grapes  (vitis  tin  if  era). — The  black  or  purple  Frontignan  in  one 
case  produced  during  two  successive  years  (and  no  doubt  perma- 
nently) spurs  which  bore  white  Frontignan  grapes.  In  another 
case,  on  the  same  foot-stalk,  the  lower  berries  "  were  well-coloured 
black  Frontignans ;  those  next  the  stalk  were  white,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  black  and  one  streaked  berry  ;"  and  altogether  there 
were  fifteen  black  and  twelve  white  berries  on  the  same  stalk.  In 
another  kind  of  grape  black  and  amber-coloured  berries  were  pro- 
duced in  the  same  cluster.6  Count  Odart  describes  a  variety  which 
often  bears  on  the  same  stalk  small  round  and  large  oblong  ber- 
ries ;  though  the  shape  of  the  berry  is  generally  a  fixed  character.7 
Here  is  another  striking  case  given  on  the  excellent  authority  of 
M.  Carriere : 8  "  a  black  Hamburgh  grape  (Frankenthal)  was  cut 
down,  and  produced  three  suckers  ;  one  of  these  was  layered,  and 
after  a  time  produced  much  smaller  berries,  which  always  ripened 
at  least  a  fortnight  earlier  than  the  others.  Of  the  remaining  two 
suckers,  one  produced  every  year  fine  grapes,  whilst  the  other, 
although  it  set  an  abundance  of  fruit,  matured  only  a  few,  and 
these  of  inferior  quality. 

Gooseberry  (Ribes  grossularia). — A  remarkable  case  has  been  de- 
scribed by  Dr.  Lindley 9  of  a  bush  winch  bore  at  the  same  time  no 
less  than  four  kinds  of  berries,  namely,  hairy  and  red, — smooth, 
small  and  red, — green, — and  yellow  tinged  with  buff;  the  two  lat- 
ter kinds  had  a  different  flavour  from  the  red  berries,  and  their 
seeds  were  coloured  red.  Three  twigs  on  this  bush  grew  close 
together ;  the  first  bore  three  yellow  berries  and  one  red  ;  the 
second  twig  bore  four  yellow  and  one  red ;  and  the  third  four  red 
and  one  yellow.     Mr.  Laxton  also  informs  me  that  he  has  seen  a 


*  See  also  '  Gardener's  Chron.,'  1S63,  in  '  Ray  Soc.  Bot.  Mem.,'  1853,  p.  314. 
p.  27.  7  '  Ampelographie,'  &c,  1849,  p.  71. 

*  '  Gard.  Chron.,'  1652,  p.  821.  8  l  Gardener's  Chronicle,'  1S66,  p.  970. 
6  'Gardener's  Chron.,'  1S52,   p.  629;            9  'Gardener's    Chronicle,'    1S65,    pp. 

1856,  p.  6*8  ;  1SC4,  p.  9S6.     Other  cases  597,  612. 
are  given  by  Braun,  '  Rejuvenescence,' 


452  BUD-VARIATION.  Chap.  XI 

Red  Warrington  gooseberry  bearing  both  red  and  yellow  fruit  on 
the  same  branch. 

Currant  (Ribes  ruhrum). — A  bush  purchased  as  the  Champagne, 
which  is  a  variety  that  bears  blush-coloured  fruit  intermediate  be- 
tween red  and  white,  produced  during  fourteen  years,  on  separate 
branches  and  mingled  on  the  same  branch,  berries  of  the  red, 
white,  and  champagne  kinds.10  The  suspicion  naturally  arises 
that  this  variety  may  have  originated  from  a  cross  between  a 
red  and  white  variety,  and  that  the  above  transformation  may 
be  accounted  for  by  reversion  to  both  parent-forms ;  but  from  the 
foregoing  complex  case  of  the  gooseberry  this  view  is  doubtful. 
In  France,  a  branch  of  a  red-currant  bush,  about  ten  years  old, 
produced  near  the  summit  five  white  berries,  and  lower  down, 
amongst  the  red  berries,  one  berry  half  red  and  half  white." 
Alexander  Braun  n  also  has  often  seen  branches  bearing  red  ber- 
ries on  white  currants. 

Pear  (Pyrus  communis). — Dureau  de  la  Malle  states  that  the 
flowers  on  some  trees  of  an  ancient  variety,  the  doyenne  galeux, 
were  destroyed  by  frost :  other  flowers  appeared  in  July,  which 
produced  six  pears  ;  these  exactly  resembled  in  their  skin  and 
taste  the  fruit  of  a  distinct  variety,  the  gros  doyenne  blanc,  but 
in  shape  were  like  the  bon-chretien :  it  was  not  ascertained  whe- 
ther this  new  variety  could  be  propagated  by  budding  or  grafting. 
The  same  author  grafted  a  bon-chretien  on  a  quince,  and  it  pro- 
duced, besides  its  proper  fruit,  an  apparently  new  variety,  of  a 
peculiar  form,  with  thick  and  rough  skin.13 

Apple  {Pyrus  onalus). — In  Canada,  a  tree  of  the  variety  called 
Pound  Sweet,  produced,14  between  two  of  its  proper  fruit,  an  ap- 
ple which  was  well  russetted,  small  in  size,  different  in  shape,  and 
with  a  short  peduncle.  As  no  russet  apple  grew  anywhere  near, 
this  case  apparently  cannot  be  accounted  for  by  the  direct  action  of 
foreign  pollen.  I  shall  hereafter  give  cases  of  apple-trees  which 
regularly  produce  fruit  of  two  kinds,  or  half-and-half  fruit;  these 
trees  are  generally  supposed,  and  probably  with  truth,  to  be  of 
crossed  parentage,  and  that  the  fruit  reverts  to  both  parent-forms. 

Banana  (Musa  sapientium). — Sir  R.  Schomburgk  states  that  he 


10  'Gardener's  Chron.,'  1842,  p.  S73 ;  12  'Rejuvenescence  in  Nature,'  'Bot. 
1S55,  p.  646.    In  the  '  Chronicle,'  1S66,  Memoirs  Ray  Soc.,'  1853,  p.  314. 

p.  876,  Mr.  P.  Mackenzie  states  that  the  I3  '  Comptes  Rendus,'  torn,  xli.,  1855, 

bush  still  continues  to  bear  the  three  p.  804.     The  second  case  is  given  on  the 

kinds    of   fruit,   "  although    they   have  authority   of    Gaudichaud,    idem,   torn, 

not  been  every  year  alike."  xxxiv.,  1S52,  p.  748. 

11  '  Revue  Horticole,' quoted  in '  Gard.  14  This   case  is  given  in  the  '  Gard. 
Chronicle,'  1844,  p.  87.  Chronicle,'  1867,  p.  403. 


Cuir.  XI.  FLOWERS.  453 

saw  in  St.  Domingo  a  raceme  on  the  Fig  Banana  ■which  bore 
towards  the  base  125  fruits  of  the  proper  kind ;  and  these  were 
succeeded,  as  is  usual,  higher  up  the  raceme,  by  barren  flowers,  and 
these  by  430  fruits,  having  a  widely  different  appearance,  and  ripen- 
ing earlier  than  the  proper  fruit.  The  abnormal  fruit  closely  re- 
sembled, except  in  being  smaller,  that  of  the  Musa  Chinensis  or 
Cavendishii,  which  has  generally  been  ranked  as  a  distinct  species.15 

Flowers. — Many  cases  have  been  recorded  of  a  whole  plant,  or 
single  branch,  or  bud,  suddenly  producing  flowers  different  from 
the  proper  type  in  colour,  form,  size,  doubleness,  or  other  character. 
Half  the  flower,  or  a  smaller  segment,  sometimes  changes  colour. 

Camellia-. — The  myrtle-leaved  species  (C.  myrtifolia)^  and  two  or 
three  varieties  of  the  common  species,  have  been  known  to  produce 
hexagonal  and  imperfectly  quadrangular  flowers  ;  and  the  branches 
producing  such  flowers  have  been  propagated  by  grafting.16  The 
Pompone  variety  often  bears  "  four  distinguishable  kinds  of  flowers, — 
"  the  pure  white  and  the  red-eyed,  which  appea'r  promiscuously ;  the 
"  brindled  pink  and  the  rose-coloured,  which  may  be  kept  separate 
"  with  tolerable  certainty  by  grafting  from  the  branches  that  bear 
"them."  A  branch,  also,  on  an  old  tree  of  the  rose-coloured  variety 
has  been  seen  to  "  revert  to  the  pure  white  colour,  an  occurrence  less 
"common  than  the  departure  from  it."17 

Cratcrgus  oxycantha. — A  dark  pink  hawthorn  has  been  known  to 
throw  out  a  single  tuft  of  pure  white  blossoms  ;18  and  Mr.  A.  Clap- 
ham,  nurseryman,  of  Bradford,  informs  me  that  his  father  had  a 
deep  crimson  thorn  grafted  on  a  white  thorn,  which,  during  several 
years,  always  bore,  high  above  the  graft,  bunches  of  white,  pink, 
and  deep  crimson  flowers. 

Azalea  Indica  is  well  known  often  to  produce  by  buds  new  varie- 
ties. I  have  myself  seen  several  cases.  A  plant  of  Azalea  Indica 
variegata  has  been  exhibited  bearing  a  truss  of  flowers  of  A.  Ind. 
Gledstanesii  "as  true  as  could  possibly  be  produced,  thus  evidencing 
the  origin  of  that  fine  variety."  On  another  plant  of  A.  Ind.  varie- 
gata a  perfect  flower  of  A.  Ind.  lateritia  was  produced ;  so  that  both 
Gledstanesii  and  lateritia  no  doubt  originally  appeared  as  sporting 
branches  of  A.  Ind.  variegata}9 

Cist  us  tricuspid. — A  seedling  of  this  plant,  -when  some  years  old, 


15 'Journal  of  Proc.  Linn.  Soc.,'  vol.  18  'Gardener's    Chronicle,'    1843,   p. 

li.  Botany,  p.  131.  891. 

18 'Gard.  Chronicle,"  1>47,  p.  207.  19  Exhibited  at  Hort.  Soc,  London, 

17  Herbert,  '  Amaryllidacese,'  1S88,  p.  Report  in  'Gardener's  Chron.,'  1844,  p. 

869.  83T. 


454  BUD- VARIATION.  Chap.  XL 

produced,  at  Saharunpore,20  some  branches  "  which  bore  leaves  and 
flowers  widely  different  from  the  normal  form."  "  The  abnormal 
leaf  is  much  less  divided,  and  not  acuminated.  The  petals  are  con- 
siderably larger,  and  quite  entire.  There  is  also  in  the  fresh  state  a 
conspicuous,  large,  oblong  gland,  full  of  a  viscid  secretion,  on  the 
back  of  each  of  the  calycine  segments." 

Althaea  rosea. — A  double  yellow  Hollyock  suddenly  turned  one 
year  into  a  pure  white  single  kind ;  subsequently  a  branch  bearing 
the  original  double  yellow  flowers  reappeared  in  the  midst  of  the 
branches  of  the  single  white  kind.21 

Pelargonium. — These  highly  cultivated  plants  seem  eminently 
liable  to  bud-variation.  I  will  give  only  a  few  well-marked  cases. 
Gartner  has  seen22  a  plant  of  P.  zonale  with  a  branch  having  white- 
edged  leaves,  which  remained  constant  for  years,  and  bore  flowers 
of  a  deeper  red  than  usual.  Generally  speaking,  such  branches 
present  little  or  no  difference  in  their  flowers:  thus  a  writer23 
pinched  off  the  leading  shoot  of  a  seedling  P.  zonale,  and  it  threw 
out  three  branches,  which  differed  in  the  size  and  colour  of  their 
leaves  and  stems ;  but  on  all  three  branches  "  the  flowers  were 
identical,"  except  in  being  largest  in  the  green-stemmed  variety, 
and  smallest  in  that  with  variegated  foliage :  these  three  varieties 
were  subsequently  propagated  and  distributed.  Many  branches, 
and  some  whole  plants,  of  a  variety  called  compactum,  which  bears 
orange-scarlet  flowers,  have  been  seen  to  produce  pink  flowers.24 
Hill's  Hector,  which,  is  a  pale  red  variety,  produced  a  branch  with 
lilac  flowers,  and  some  trusses  with  both  red  and  lilac  flowers. 
This  apparently  is  a  case  of  reversion,  for  Hill's  Hector  was  a 
seedling  from  a  lilac  variety.25  Of  all  Pelargoniums,  Rollisson's 
Unique  seems  to  be  the  most  sportive ;  its  origin  is  not  positively 
known,  but  is  believed  to  be  from  a  cross.  Mr.  Salter,  of  Ham- 
mersmith, states26  that  he  has  himself  known  this  purple  vari- 
ety to  produce  the  lilac,  the  rose-crimson  or  conspieuum,  and  the 
red  or  coecineum  varieties;  the  latter  has  also  produced  the  rose 
d 'amour ;  so  that  altogether  four  varieties  have  originated  by  bud 
variation  from  Rollisson's  Unique.  Mr.  Salter  remarks  that  these 
four  varieties  "may  now  be  considered  as  fixed,  although  they  occa- 
"sionally  produce  flowers  of  the  original  colour.     This  year  coc- 


25  Mr.  W.  Bell,  Bot.  Soc.  of  Edinburgh,  «  <  jour.  0f  Horticulture,'  1861,  p.  336. 

May,  1863.  2<  W.  P.  Ayres,  in  'Gardener's  Chron., 

21  '  Revue  Horticole,'  quoted  in  ■  Gard.  1842,  p.  791. 

Chron.,'  1S45,  p.  475.  26  W.  P.  Ayres,  idem. 

22  '  Bastarderzeugung,'  1849,  s.  76.  28  '  Gardener's  Chron.,'  1861,  p.  968. 


Chap.  XI. 


FLOWERS.  455 


"cineinn  has  pushed  flowers  of  three  different  colours,  red,  rose,  and 
'•  lilac,  upon  the  same  truss,  and  upon  other  trusses  are  flowers  half 
"red  and  half  lilac."  Besides  these  four  varieties,  two  other  scarlet 
Uniques  are  known  to  exist,  both  of  which  occasionally  produce 
lilac  flowers  identical  with  Rollisson's  Unique  ; n  but  one  at  least  of 
these  did  not  arise  through  bud-variation,  but  is  believed  to  be  a 
seedling  from  Rollisson's  Unique.28  There  are,  also,  in  the  trade29 
two  other  slightly  different  varieties,  of  unknown  origin,  of  Rollis- 
son's Unique  :  so  that  altogether  we  have  a  curiously  complex  case 
of  variation  both  by  buds  and  seeds.30  An  English  wild  plant,  the 
Geranium  pratcnse,  when  cultivated  in  a  garden,  has  been  seen  to 
produce  on  the  same  plant  both  blue  and  white,  and  striped  blue 
and  white  flowers.31 

Clirysanthemum. — This  plant  frequently  sports,  both  by  its  lateral 
branches  and  occasionally  by  suckers.  A  seedling  raised  by  Mr. 
Salter  has  produced  by  bud-variation  six  distinct  sorts,  five  different 
in  colour  and  one  in  foliage,  all  of  which  are  now  fixed.32  The 
varieties  which  were  first  introduced  from  China  were  so  exces- 
sively variable,  "  that  it  was  extremely  difficult  to  tell  which  was 
the  original  colour  of  the  variety,  and  which  was  the"sport."  The 
same  plant  would  produce  one  year  only  buff-coloured,  and  next 
year  only  rose-coloured  flowers ;  and  then  would  change  again,  or 
produce  at  the  same  time  flowers  of  both  colours.  These  fluctuat- 
ing varieties  are  now  all  lost,  and,  when  a  branch  sports  into  a  new 
variety,  it  can  generally  be  propagated  and  kept  true  ;  but,  as  Mr. 
Salter  remarks,  "  every  sport  should  be  thoroughly  tested  in  dif- 
"  ferent  soils  before  it  can  be  really  considered  as  fixed,  as  many 
"  have  been  known  to  run  back  when  planted  in  rich  compost ;  but 
"  when  sufficient  care  and  time  are  expended  in  proving,  there  will 
"  exist  little  danger  of  subsequent  disappointment."  Mr.  Salter  in- 
forms me  that  with  all  the  varieties  the  commonest  kind  of  bud- 
variation  is  the  production  of  yellow  flowers,  and,  as  this  is  the 
primordial  colour,  these  cases  may  be  attributed  to  reversion.  Mr. 
Salter  has  given  me  a  list  of  seven  differently  coloured  chrysanthe- 
mums, which  have  all  produced  branches  with  yellow  flowers ;  but 


27 'Gardener's  Chron.,' 1S61,  p.  945.  the    genus    Pelargonium,  see    'Cottage 

28  W.  Paul,  in  'Gardener's  Chron.,'  Gardener,' 1SG0,  p.  194. 

1861,  p.  968.  31  Rev.  W.  T.  Bree,  in  Loudon's  '  Gard. 

29  Idem,  p.  945.  Mag.,'  vol.  viii.,  1S32,  p.  93. 

30  For  other  cases  of  bud-variation  in  32  '  The  Chrysanthemum,  its  History 
this  same  variety,  see  '  Gardener's  and  Culture,'  by  J.  Salter,  1SG5,  p.  41, 
Chron.,'  1861,   pp.  5T8,  600,  925.      For  &c. 

other  distinct  cases  of  bud-variation  in 


456  BUD- VARIATION.  Chap.  XI. 

three  of  them  have  also  sported  into  other  colours.  With  any 
change  of  colour  in  the  flower,  the  foliage  generally  changes  in  a 
corresponding  manner  in  lightness  or  darkness. 

Another  Compositous  plant,  namely,  Centauria  cyantts,  when  cul- 
tivated in  a  garden,  not  unfrequently  produces  on  the  same  root 
flowers  of  four  different  colours,  viz.,  blue,  white,  dark-purple,  and 
particoloured.33  The  flowers  of  Anthemis  also  vary  on  the  same 
plant.34 

Hoses. — Many  varieties  of  the  rose  are  known  or  are  believed  to 
have  originated  by  bud-variation.35  The  common  double  moss-rose 
was  imported  into  England  from  Italy  about  the  year  1735.36  Its 
origin  is  unknown,  but  from  analogy  it  probably  arose  from  the 
Provence  rose  (B.  centifolia)  by  bud-variation  ;  for  branches  of  the 
common  moss-rose  have  several  times  been  known  to  produce  Pro- 
vence roses,  wholly  or  partially  destitute  of  moss :  I  have  seen  one 
such  instance,  and  several  others  have  been  recorded.37  Mr.  Rivers 
also  informs  me  that  he  raised  two  or  three  roses  of  the  Provence 
class  from  seed  of  the  old  single  moss-rose  ; 38  and  this  latter  kind 
was  produced  in  1807  by  bud-variation  from  the  common  moss-rose. 
The  white  moss-rose  was  also  produced  in  1788  by  an  offset  from 
the  common  red  moss-rose :  it  was  at  first  pale  blush-coloured,  but 
became  white  by  continued  budding.  On  cutting  down  the  shoots 
which  had  produced  this  white  moss-rose,  two  weak  shoots  were 
thrown  up,  and  buds  from  these  yielded  the  beautiful  striped  moss- 
rose.  The  common  moss-rose  has  yielded  by  bud-variation,  besides 
the  old  single  red  moss-rose,  the  old  scarlet  semi-double  moss-rose, 
and  the  sage-leaf  moss-rose,  which  "  has  a  delicate  shell-like  form, 
and  is  of  a  beautiful  blush-colour  ;  it  is  now  (1852)  nearly  extinct."  39 
A  white  moss-rose  has  been  seen  to  bear  a  flower  half  white  and 
half  pink.40  Although  several  moss-roses  have  thus  certainly  arisen 
by  bud-variation,  the  greater  number  probably  owe  their  origin  to 
seed  of  moss-roses.  For  Mr.  Rivers  informs  me  that  his  seedlings 
from  the  old  single  moss-rose  almost  always  produced  moss- roses  ; 
and  the  old  single  moss-rose  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  product  by  bud- 


33  Bree,   in   Loudon's   'Gard.   Mag.,'  S8  See    also    Loudon's    'Arboretum,' 
vol.  viii.,  1832,  p.  93.  vol.  ii.  p.  780. 

34  Bronn,  '  Geschlchte  der  Natur,'  B.  39  All  these  statements  on  the  origin 
ii.  s.  123.  of   the    several  varieties  of   the  moss- 

35  T.  Rivers, '  Rose  Amateur's  Guide,'  rose  are  given  on  the  authority  of  Mr. 
1837,  p.  4.  Shailer,  who,  together  with  his   father, 

36  Mr.  Shailer,  quoted  in  '  Gardener's  was    concerned   in   their   original    pro- 
Chron.,' 1848,  p.  759.  pagation,    in    '  Gard.  Chron.,'  1852,  p. 

37  '  Transact.    Hort.     Soc'    vol.     iv.,  759. 

1822,  p.  137 ;  '  Gard.  Chron.'  1842,  p.  422.  «  '  Gard.  Chron.,'  1845,  p.  564. 


Chap.  XI.  FLOWERS.  457 

variation  of  the  double  moss-rose  originally  imported  from  Italy. 
That  the  original  moss-rose  was  the  product  of  hud-variation  is  pro- 
bable, from  the  facts  above  given  and  from  the  moss-rose  de  Meaux 
(also  a  var.  of  E.  centifolia)  41  having  appeared  as  a  sporting  branch 
on  the  common  rose  do  Meaux. 

Prof.  Caspary  has  carefully  described42  the  case  of  a  six-year-old 
■white  moss-rose,  which  Bent  up  several  suckers,  one  of  which  was 
thorny,  and  produced  red  flowers,  destitute  of  moss,  exactly  like 
those  of  the  Provence  rose  (R.  centifolia)  :  another  shoot  bore  both 
kinds  of  flowers  and  in  addition  longitudinally  striped  flowers.  As 
this  white  moss-rose  had  been  grafted  on  the  Provence  rose,  Prof. 
Caspary  attributes  the  above  changes  to  the  influence  of  the  stock  ; 
but  from  the  facts  already  given,  and  from  others  to  be  given,  bud- 
variation,  with  reversion,  is  probably  a  sufficient  explanation. 

Many  other  instances  could  be  added  of  roses  varying  by  buds. 
The  white  Provence  rose  apparently  thus  originated.43  The  double 
and  highly-coloured  Belladonna  rose  has  been  known44  to  produce 
by  suckers  both  semi-double  and  almost  single  white  roses  ;  whilst 
suckers  from  one  of  these  semi-double  white  roses  reverted  to  per- 
fectly characterised  Belladonnas.  Varieties  of  the  China  rose  pro- 
pagated by  cuttings  in  St.  Domingo  often  revert  after  a  year  or  two 
into  the  old  China  rose.45  Many  cases  have  been  recorded  of  roses 
suddenly  becoming  striped  or  changing  their  character  by  seg- 
ments: some  plants  of  the  Comtesse  de  Ch'abrillant,  which  is  pro- 
perly rose-coloured,  were  exhibited  in  18G2,46  with  crimson  flakes  on 
a  rose  ground.  I  have  seen  the  Beauty  of  Billiard  with  a  quarter 
and  with  half  the  flower  almost  white.  The  Austrian  bramble  (R. 
lutea)  not  rarely47  produces  branches  with  pure  yellow  flowers  ;  and 
Prof.  Henslow  has  seen  exactly  half  the  flower  of  a  pure  yellow, 
and  I  have  seen  narrow  yellow  streaks  on  a  single  petal,  of  which 
the  rest  was  of  the  usual  copper  colour. 

The  following  cases  are  highly  remarkable.  Mr.  Rivers,  as  I  am 
informed  by  him,  possessed  a  new  French  rose  wdth  delicate  smooth 
shoi  its.  pale  glaucous-green  leaves,  and  semi-double  pale  flesh-coloured 
flowers  striped  with  dark  red;  and  on  branches  thus  characterised 
there  suddenly  appeared,  in  more  than  one  instance,  the  famous  old 
rose  called  the  Baronne  Prevost,  with  its  stout  thorny  shoots,  and 


41  'Transact.   Hort.   Soe.,'  vol.  ii.  p.  «  'Gard.  Chron.,'  1S52,  p.  759. 

242-  44  'Transact  Hort   Soc.,'  vol.    ii.   p. 

42  '  Sclniften  der  Phys.  Okon.  Gesell.  242. 

-iierp.'  Feb.  3,  1SG5,  s.  4.     See  *5  Sir   R.    Schomburgk,   '  Proc.  Linn, 

also  Dr.  Caspary's  paper  in   '  Transac-  Soc.  Bot.,'  vol.  ii.  p.'  132. 

tions  of  the  Hort  Congress  of  Amster-  ««  'Gard.  Chron.,'  1862.  p.  619. 

dam,'  1SC5.  *i  Hopkirk's  'Flora  Anomala,'  p.  16T. 
20 


458  BUD- VARIATION.  Chap.  XI. 

immense,  uniformly  and  richly  coloured,  double  flowers  ;  so  that  in 
this  case  the  shoots,  leaves,  and  flowers,  all  at  once  changed  their 
character  by  bud-variation.  According  to  M.  Verlot 4S  a  variety  call- 
ed Rosa  Cannabifolia,  which  has  peculiarly  shaped  leaflets,  and  dif. 
fers  from  every  member  of  the  family  in  the  leaves  being  opposite 
instead  of  alternate,  suddenly  appeared  on  a  plant  of  R.  alba  in  the 
gardens  of  the  Luxembourg.  Lastly,  "a  running  shoot"  was  ob- 
served by  Mr.  H.  Curtis49  on  the  old  Aimee  Vibert  Noisette,  and  he 
budded  it  on  Celine ;  thus  a  climbing  Aimee  Vibert  was  first  pro- 
duced and  afterwards  propagated. 

Dianthus. — It  is  quite  common  With  the  Sweet  William  (D.  bar- 
batus)  to  see  differently  coloured  flowers  on  the  same  root ;  and  I 
have  observed  on  the  same  truss  four  differently  coloured  and  shaded 
flowers.  Carnations  and  pinks  (D.  caryopliyllus,  &c.)  occasionally  vary 
by  layers ;  and  some  kinds  are^o  little  certain  in  character  that  they 
are  called  by  floriculturists  "catch-flowers."50  Mr.  Dickson  has  ably 
discussed  the  "  running  "  of  particoloured  or  striped  carnations,  and 
says  it  cannot  be  accounted  for  by  the  compost  in  which  they  are 
grown :  "  layers  from  the  same  clean  flower  would  come  part  of  them 
"  clean  and  part  foul,  even  when  subjected  to  precisely  the  same 
"  treatment ;  and  frequently  one  flower  alone  appears  influenced  by 
"  the  taint,  the  remainder  coming  perfectly  clean." 51  This  running 
of  the  parti-coloured  flowers  apparently  is  a  case  of  reversion  by  buds 
to  the  original  uniform  tint  of  the  species. 

I  will  briefly  mention  some  other  cases  of  bud- variation  to  show 
how  many  plants  belonging  to  many  orders  have  varied  in  their 
flowers ;  numerous,  cases  might  be  added.  I  have  seen  on  a  snap- 
dragon {Antirrhinum  majus)  white,  pink,  and  striped  flowers  on  the 
same  plant,  and  branches  with  striped  flowers  on  a  red-coloured  va- 
riety. On  a  double  stock  (Matthiola  incana)  I  have  seen  a  branch 
bearing  single  flowers ;  and  on  a  dingy-purple,  double  variety  of  the 
wall-flower  (Cheiranthus  cJwiri)  a  branch  which  had  reverted  to  the 
ordinary  copper  colour.  On  other  branches  of  the  same  plant,  some 
flowers  were  exactly  divided  across  the  middle,  one  half  being  pur- 
ple and  the  other  coppery ;  but  some  of  the  smaller  petals  towards 
the  centre  of  these  same  flowers  were  purple  longitudinally  streaked 
with  coppery  colour,  or  coppery  streaked  with  purple.  A  Cyclamen 5i 
has  been  observed  to  bear  white  and  pink  flowers  of  two  forms,  the 
one  resembling  the  Persicum  strain,  and  the  other  the  Coum  strain. 


**>  '  Suv  la  Production  et  la  Fixation  6«  'Card.  Chron.,'  1843,  p.  185. 

des  Varietes,'  1865,  p.  4.  B1  Ibid.,  1S42,  p.  55. 

40  'Journal  of  Horticulture,'  March,  62  '  Card.  Chron.,'  186T,  p.  285. 
1865,  p.  283. 


Chap.  XI.  LEAVES    AND    SHOOTS.  459 

Oenothera  biennis  has  been  seen"  bearing  flowers  of  three  different 
colours.  The  hybrid  Qtad&olus  ci>lci!lii  occasionally  boars  uniformly 
coloured  flowers,  and  one  case  is  recorded54  of  all  the  flowers  on  a 
plant  thus  changing  colour.  A  Fuchsia  has  been  seen55  bearing 
two  kinds  of  flowers.  Mirabilis  jedapa  Is  eminently  sportive,  some- 
times bearing  on  the  same  root  pure  red,  yellow,  and  white  flowers, 
and  others  striped  with  various  combinations  of  these  three  colours.58 
The  plants  of  the  Mirabilis  which  bear  such  extraordinarily  variable 
flowers,  in  most,  probably  in  all  cases,  owe  their  origin,  as  shown 
by  Prof.  Lecoq,  to  crosses  between  differently-coloured  varieties. 

Leaves  and  Shoots. — Changes,  through  bud  variation,  in  fruits  and 
flowers  have  hitherto  been  treated  of,  but  incidentally  some  remark- 
able modifications  in  the  leaves  and  shoots  of  the  rose  and  Cistus, 
and  in  a  lesser  degree  in  the  foliage  of  the  Pelargonium  and  Chry- 
santhemum, have  been  noticed.  I  will  now  add  a  few  more  cases  01 
variation  in  leaf-buds.  Verlot "  states  that  on  Aralia  trifolieda, 
which  properly  has  leaves  with  three  leaflets,  branches  bearing  sim- 
ple leaves  of  various  forms  frequently  appear ;  these  can  be  propa- 
gated by  buds  or  grafting,  and  have  given  rise,  as  he  states,  to  se- 
veral nominal  species. 

With  respect  to  trees,  the  history  of  but  few  of  the  many  varieties 
with  curious  or  ornamental  foliage  is  known ;  but  several  probably 
have  originated  by  bud-variation.  Here  is  one  case ; — An  old  ash- 
tree  (Fraxinvs  excelsior)  in  the  grounds  of  Xecton,  as  Mr.  Mason 
states,  "for  many  years  has  had  one  bough  of  a  totally  different 
character  to  the  rest  of  the  tree,  or  of  any  other  ash-tree  which  I 
have  seen ;  being  short-jointed  and  densely  covered  with  foliage." 
It  was  ascertained  that  this  variety  could  be  propagated  by  grafts.58 
The  varieties  of  some  trees  with  cut  leaves,  as  the  oak-leaved  labur- 
num, the  parsley-leaved  vine,  and  especially  the  fern-leaved  beech, 
are  apt  to  revert  by  buds  to  the  common  form.59  The  fern-like  leaves 
of  the  beech  sometimes  revert  only  partially,  and  the  branches  dis- 
play here  and  there  sprouts  bearing  common  leaves,  fern-like,  and 
variously  shaped  leaves.  Such  cases  differ  but  little  from  the  so- 
called  heterophyllous  varieties,  in  which  the  tree  habitually  bears 


Ba  Gartner,  'Bastarderzeugung,'  s.  305.  Fecondation,'  1SG2,  p.  303. 

64  Mr.  D.  Beaton,  in  '  Cottage  Garden-  57  '  Des  Varietes,'  1SG5,  p.  5. 

er,'  I860,  p.  250.      •  M  W.  Mason,  in  '  Gard.  Chron.,'  1943, 

•»  'Gard.  Chron.,'  1S50,  p.  536.  p.  87S. 

68  Braun,  'Ray  Soc.  Bot.  Mem.,'  1S53,  59  Alex.  Braun,  'Ray  Soc.  Bot.  Mem.,' 

p.  815;  Hopkiik's  'Flora  Anomala,'  p.  1353,  p.  815;   'Gard.  Chron.,'  1S41,  p. 

1G4 ;    Lecoq,   '  Geograph.   Bot.  de  l'Eu-  829. 


rope,'  torn.  Hi.,  1S54,  p.  405;  and  'De  la 


460  BUD- VARIATION  Chap.  XL 

leaves  of  various  forms ;  but.it  is  probable  that  most  heterophyllous 
trees  have  originated  as  seedlings.  There  is  a  sub-variety  of  the 
weeping  willow  with  leaves  rolled  up  into  a  spiral  coil ;  and  Mr. 
Masters  states  that  a  tree  of  this  kind  kept  true  in  his  garden  for 
twenty-five  years,  and  then  threw  out  a  single  upright  shoot  bearing 
flat  leaves.80 

I  have  often  noticed  single  twigs  and  branches  on  beech  and 
other  trees  with  their  leaves  fully  expanded  before  those  on  the 
other  branches  had  opened  ;  and  as  there  was  nothing  in  their  ex- 
posure or  character  to  account  for  this  difference,  I  presume  that 
they  bad  appeared  as  bud-variations,  like  the  early  and  late  fruit- 
maturing  varieties  of  the  peach  and  nectarine. 

Crypt  ogamic  plants  are  liable  to  bud-variation,  for  fronds  on  the 
same  fern  are  often  seen  to  display  remarkable  deviations  of  struc- 
ture. Spores,  which  are  of  the  nature  of  buds,  taken  from  such  ab- 
normal fronds,  reproduce,  with  remarkable  fidelity,  the  same  variety, 
after  passing  through  the  sexual  stage.01 

With  respect  to  colour,  leaves  often  become  by  bud-variation  zoned, 
blotched,  or  spotted  with  white,  yellow,  and  red ;  and  this  occa- 
sionally occurs  even  with  plants  in  a  state  of  nature.  Variegation, 
however,  appears  still  more  frequently  in  plants  produced  from  seed ; 
even  the  cotyledons  or  seed-leaves  being  thus  affected.62  There 
have  been  endless  disputes  whether  variegation  should  be  consider- 
ed as  a  disease.  In  a  future  chapter  we  shall  see  that  it  is  much  in- 
fluenced, both  in  the  case  of  seedlings  and  of  mature  plants,  by  the 
nature  of  the  soil.  Plants  which  have  become  variegated  as  seed- 
lings, generally  transmit  their  character  by  seed  to  a  large  propor- 
tion of  their  progeny  ;  and  Mr.  Salter  has  given  me  a  list  of  eight 
genera  in  which  this  occurred.63  Sir  F.  Pollock  has  given  me  more 
precise  information  :  he  sowed  seed  from  a  variegated  plant  of  Bal- 
lota  nigra,  which  was  found  growing  wild,  and  thirty  per  cent,  of 
the  seedlings  were  variegated  ;  seed  from  these  latter  being  sown, 
sixty  per  cent,  came  up  variegated.  When  branches  become  varie- 
gated by  bud-variation,  and  the  variety  is  attempted  to  be  propa- 
gated by  seed,  the  seedlings  are  rarely  variegated  ;  Mr.  Salter  found 
this  to  be  the  case,  with  plants  belonging  to  eleven  genera,  in  which 
the  greater  number  of  the  seedlings  proved  to  be  green-leaved  ;  yet 
a  few  were  slightly  variegated,  or  were  quite  white,  but  none  were 


60  Dr.  M.  T.  Masters,  '  Royal  Institu-  Soc.  Edinburgh,'  June  12,  1862. 

tion  Lecture,'  March  16,  1860.  6i  '  Journal  of  Horticulture,'  1S61,  p. 

61  See  Mr.  W.  K.  Bridgman'  s  curious  336  ;  Verlot,  '  Des  Varietes,'  p.  76. 
paper  in 'Annals  and  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist.,'  «3  See  also  Verlot, 'Des  Varietes,' p. 
December,  1S61  j  also  Mr.  J.  Scott, '  Bot.  74. 


Chap.  XI.       BY    SUCKERS,  TUBERS,  AND    BULBS.  4C1 

■worth  keeping.  Variegated  plants,  whether  originally  produced 
from  seeds  or  buds,  can  generally  be  propagated  by  budding,  graft- 
ing, &c. ;  but  all  are  apt  to  revert  by  bud-variation  to  their  ordinary 
foliage.  This  tendency,  however,  differs  much  in  the  varieties  of 
even  the  same  species ;  for  instance,  the  golden-striped  variety  of 
Bkumymus  Japonicus  "is  very  liable  to  run  back  to  the  green-leaved, 
■while  the  silver-striped  variety  hardly  ever  changes." 64  I  have  seen 
a  variety  of  the  holly,  with  its  leaves  having  a  central  yellow  patch, 
which  had  everywhere  partially  reverted  to  the  ordinary  foliage,  so 
that  on  the  same  small  branch  there  were  many  twigs  of  both  kinds. 
In  the  pelargonium,  and  in  some  other  plants,  variegation  is  general- 
ly accompanied  by  some  degree  of  dwarfing,  as  is  well  exemplified 
in  the  "  Dandy"  pelargonium.  When  such  dwarf  varieties  sport 
back  by  buds  or  suckers  to  the  ordinary  foliage,  the  dwarfed  sta- 
ture sometimes  still  remains.65  It  is  remarkable  that  plants  propa- 
gated from  branches  which  have  reverted  from  variegated  to  plain 
leaves 66  do  not  always  (or  never,  as  one  observer  asserts)  perfectly 
resemble  the  original  plain-leaved  plant  from  which  the  variegated 
branch  arose :  it  seems  that  a  plant,  in  passing  by  'bud-variation 
from  plain  leaves  to  variegated,  and  back  again  from  variegated  to 
plain,  is  generally  in  some  degree  affected  so  as  to  assume  a  slightly 
different  aspect. 

Bud-variation  by  Suckers,  Tubers,  and  Bulbs. — All  the  cases  hither- 
to given  of  bud-variation  in  fruits,  flowers,  leaves,  and  shoots,  have 
been  confined  to  buds  on  the  steins  or  branches,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  cases  incidentally  noticed  of  varying  suckers  in  the  rose, 
pelargonium,  and  chrysanthemum.  I  will  now  give  a  few  instances 
of  variation  in  subterranean  buds,  that  is,  by  suckers,  tubers,  and 
bulbs ;  not  that  there  is  any  essential  difference  between  buds  above 
and  beneath  the  ground.  Mr.  Salter  informs  me  that  two  varie- 
gated varieties  of  Phlox  originated  as  suckers ;  but  I  should  not 
have  thought  these  worth  mentioning,  had  not  Mr.  Salter  found, 
after  repeated  trials,  that  he  could  not  propagate  them  by  "  root- 
joints,"  whereas,  the  variegated  TussUago  farfara  can  thus  be  safe- 
ly propagated  ; 67  but  this  latter  plant  may  have  originated  as  a  varie- 
gated seedling,  which  would  account  for  its  greater  fixedness  of 


84  '  Gard.  Chron.,'  1844,  p.  86.  leaves  cannot  be  propagated  by  division 

65  Ibid.,  1861,  p.  Of,-.  of  the  roots.    He  also  found  that  out  of 

68  Ibid.,  1861,  p.  433.     'Cottage  Gar-  500  plants  of  a  Phlox  with  striped  flow- 

dener,'  I860,  p.  2.  ers,  which  had  been  propagated  by  root- 

67  M.    Lemoine    (quoted   in     '  Gard.  division,  only  seven  or  eight  produced 

Chron.,'  1SG7,  p.  T4)   has  lately  observed  striped  flowers.     See  also,  on  striped  Pe- 

that  the    Symphitum    with  variegated  largoniums,  '  Gard.  Chron.'  1867,  p.  1000. 


462  BUD-VAKIATIOISr  Chap.  XI. 

character.  The  Barberry  (Berberis  vulgaris)  offers  an  analogous 
case  ;  there  is  a  well-known  variety  with  seedless  fruit,  which  can  be 
propagated  by  cuttings  or  layers  ;  but  suckers  always  revert  to  the 
common  form,  which  produces  fruit  containing  seeds.08  My  father 
repeatedly  tried  this  experiment,  and  always  with  the  same  result. 

Turning  now  to  tubers  :  in  the  common  Potato  (Solanum  tubero- 
sum) a  single  bud  or  eye  sometimes  varies  and  produces  a  new  va- 
riety ;  or,  occasionally,  and  this  is  a  much  more  remarkable  circum- 
stance, all  the  eyes  in  a  tuber  vary  in  the  same  manner  and  at  the 
same  time,  so  that  the  whole  tuber  assumes  a  new  character.  For 
instance,  a  single  eye  in  a  tuber  of  the  old  Forty-fold  potato,  which 
is  a  purple  variety,  was  oberved 69  to  become  white ;  this  eye  was 
cut  out  and  planted  separately,  and  the  kind  has  since  been  largely 
propagated.  Kemp's  Potato  is  properly  white,  but  a  plant  in  Lan- 
cashire produced  two  tubers  which  were  red,  and  two  which  were 
white  ;  the  red  kind  was  propagated  in  the  usual  manner  by  eyes, 
and  kept  true  to  its  new  colour,  and,  being  found  a  more  productive 
variety,  soon  became  widely  known  under  the  name  of  I'aylor's 
Forty-fold.'0  The  Old  Forty-fold  potato,  as  already  stated,  is  a  purple 
variety  ;  but  a  plant  long  cultivated  on  the  same  ground  produced, 
not  as  in  the  case  above  given  a  single  white  eye,  but  a  whole  white 
tuber,  which  has  since  been  propagated  and  keeps  true.71  Several 
cases  have  been  recorded  of  large  portions  of  whole  rows  of  potatoes 
slightly  changing  their  character.72 

Dahlias  propagated  by  tubers  under  the  hot  climate  of  St.  Do- 
mingo vary  much  ;  Sir  R.  Schomburgk  gives  the  case  of  the  "  But- 
terfly variety,"  which  the  second  year  produced  on  the  same  plant 
"  double  and  single  flowers  ;  here  white  petals  edged  with  maroon ; 
"  there  of  a  uniform  deep  maroon."  73  Mr.  Bree  also  mentions  a 
plant  "  which  bore  two  different  kinds  of  self-coloured  flowers,  as 
"  well  as  a  third  kind  which  partook  of  both  colours  beautifully  in- 
"  termixed."  74  Another  case  is  described  of  a  dahlia  with  purple 
flowers  which  bore  a  white  flower  streaked  with  purple.78 

Considering  how  long  and  extensively  many  Bulbous  plants  have 
been  cultivated,  and  how  numerous  are  the  varieties  produced  from 
seed,  these  plants  have  not  varied  so  much  by  offsets, — that  is,  by 
the  production  of  new  bulbs, — as  might  have  been  expected.    With 


48  Anderson's  '  Recreations  in  Agricul-  for  other  and  similar  accounts, 

ture,'  vol.  v.  p.  152.  73  '  Journal  of  Proc.  Linn.  Soc.,'1  vol. 

«»  '  Gard.  Chron.,'  1S5T,  p.  662.  ii.  Botany,  p.  132. 

70  Ibid.,  1S41,  p.  814.        •  74  Loudon's  'Gard.  Mag.,'  vol.  viii., 

'i  Ibid.,  1857,  p.  618.  1832,  p.  94. 

'2  Ibid.,  1857,  p.  679.    See  also  Phil-  76  '  Gard.  Chron.,1  1S50,  p.  536 ;  and 

lips, '  Hist,  of  Vegetables,'  vol.  ii.  p.  91,  1842,  p.  729. 


Chap.  XI.       BY    SUCKERS,  TUBERS,  AND    BULBS.  463 

the  Hyacinth  a  case  has  been  recorded  of  a  blue  variety  which  for 
three  successive  years  gave  offsets  which  produced  white  flowers 
with  a  red  centre.70  Another  hyacinth  has  been  described77  as 
bearing  on  the  same  truss  a  perfectly  rank  and  a  perfectly  blue 

flower. 

Mr.  John  Scott  informs  me  that  in  18G2  Imatophyttum  miniadim, 
in  the  Botanic  Gardens  of  Edinburgh,  threw  up  a  sucker  which  dif- 
fered from  the  normal  form,  in  the  leaves  being  two-ranked  instead 
of  four-ranked.  The  leaves  were  also  smaller,  with  the  upper  sur- 
face raised  instead  of  being:  channelled. 

In  the  propagation  of  Tulips,  seedlings  are  raised,  called  selfs  or 
breeders,  which  "  consist  of  one  plain  colour  on  a  white  or  yellow 
"  bottom.  These,  being  cultivated  on  a  dry  and  rather  poor  soil, 
"  become  broken  or  variegated  and  produce  new  varieties.  The 
"  time  that  elapses  before  they  break  varies  from  one  to  twenty 
"  years  or  more,  and  sometimes  this  change  never  takes  place."  78 
The  various  broken  or  variegated  colours  which  give  value  to  all 
tulips  are  due  to  bud-variation ;  for  although  the  Bybloemens  and 
some  other  kinds  have  been  raised  from  several  distinct  breeders,  yet 
all  the  Baguets  are  said  to  have  come  from  a  single  breeder  or  seed- 
ling. This  bud-variation,  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  MM.  Vil- 
rnorin  and  Verlot,79  is  probably  an  attempt  to  revert  to  that  uni- 
form colour  which  is  natural  to  the  species.  A  tulip,  however, 
which  has  already  become  broken,  when  treated  with  too  strong 
manure,  is  liable  to  flush  or  lose  by  a  second  act  of  reversion  its 
variegated  colours.  Some  kinds,  as  Irnperatrix  Florum,  are  much 
more  liable  than  others  to  flushing;  and  Mr.  Dickson  maintains80 
that  this  can  no  more  be  accounted  for  than  the  variation  of  any  ' 
other  plant.  He  believes  that  English  growers,  from  care  in  choos- 
ing seed  from  broken  flowers  instead  of  from  plain  flowers,  have  to 
a  certain  extent  diminished  the  tendency  -in  flowei-s  already  broken 
to  flushing  or  secondary  reversion. 

During  two  consecutive  years  all  the  early  flowers  in  a  bed  of 
Tiyrid'ui  ooneMflora"1  resembled  those  of  the  old  T.  pavorUa;  but 
the  later  flowers  assumed  their  proper  colour  of  fine  yellow  spotted 
with  crimson.  An  apparently  authentic  account  has  been  published  "2 
of  two  forms  of  Hemerocallis,  which  have  been  universally  con- 


7"  'Des  Jacinthes,'  &c,  Amsterdam,  p.  63. 

1763,  p.  188.  80  '  Gard.  Cbion.,'  1S41,  p.  TS2 ;   1S42, 

"  '  fiard.  Chron.,'  1845,  p.  212.  p.  55. 

78  Loudon's  '  Encyclop.  of  Gardening,'  81  '  Gard.  Chron.,'  1S49,  p.  565. 

p.  1024.  82  'Transact,  Linn.  Soc.,'  vol.  ii.  p. 

78  'Production    des  Varietes,'   1S65,  354. 


464  BUD-VARIATION.  Chap.  XI. 

sidered  as  distinct  species,  changing  into  each  other ;  for  the  roots 
of  the  large-flowered  tawny  H.  fulva,  being  divided  and  planted  in 
a  different  soil  and  place,  produced  the  small-flowered  yellow  H. 
flava,  as  well  as  some  intermediate  forms.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
such  cases  as  these  latter,  as  well  as  the  "  flushing  "  of  broken  tulips 
and  the  "  running  "  of  particoloiu'ed  carnations, — that  is,  their  more 
or  less  complete  return  to  a  uniform  tint, — ought  to  be  classed  under 
bud-variation,  or  ought  to  be  retained  for  the  chapter  in  which  I 
treat  of  the  direct  action  of  the  conditions  of  life  on  organic  beings. 
These  cases,  however,  have  this  much  in  common  with  bud-varia- 
tion, that  the  change  is  effected  through  buds  and  not  through 
seminal  reproduction.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  this  differ- 
ence— that  in  ordinary  cases  of  bud-variation,  one  bud  alone  changes, 
whilst  in  the  foregoing  cases  all  the  buds  on  the  same  plant  were 
modified  together ;  yet  we  have  an  intermediate  case,  for  with  the 
potato  all  the  eyes  in  one  tuber  alone  simultaneously  changed  their 
character. 

I  will  conclude  with  a  few  allied  cases,  which  may  be  ranked 
either  under  bud-variation,  or  under  the  direct  action  of  the  condi- 
tions of  life.  When  the  common  Hepatica  is  transplanted  from  its 
native  woods,  the  flowers  change  colour,  even  during  the  first  year.83 
It  is  notorious  that  the  improved  varieties  of  the  Heartsease  (  Viola 
tricolor-)  when  transplanted  often  produce  flowers  widely  different  in 
size,  form,  and  colour :  for  instance,  I  transplanted  a  large  uniformly- 
coloured  dark  purple  variety,  whilst  in  full  flower,  and  it  then  pro- 
duced much  smaller,  more  elongated  flowers,  with  the  lower  petals 
yellow ;  ~these  were  succeeded  by  flowers  marked  with  large  purple 
spots,  and  ultimately,  towards  the  end  of  the  same  summer,  by  the 
original  large  dark  purple  flowers.  The  slight  changes  which  some 
fruit-trees  undergo  from  being  grafted  and  regrafted  on  various 
stocks,84  were  considered  by  Andrew  Knight 85  as  closely  allied  to 
"  sporting  branches,"  or  bud-variations.  Again,  we  have  the  case  of 
young  fruit-trees  changing  their  character  as  they  grow  old ;  seed- 
ling pears,  for  instance,  lose  with  age  their  spines  and  improve  in 
the  flavour  of  their  fruit.  Weeping  birch-trees,  when  grafted  on  the 
common  variety,  do  not  acquire  a  perfect  pendulous  habit  until  they 


B3  Godron,  '  De  l'Kspece,'  torn.  ii.  p.  shoots  with  bark,  buds,  leaves,  petioles, 

84.  petals,  and  flower-stalks  all  widely  dif- 

84  M.  Carriere  has  lately  described,  ferent   from    those   of   the   Aria.      The 

in  the  'Revue  Horticole'  (Dee.  1,1S66,  grafted  shoots  were  also  much  hardier, 

p.  457),  an  extraordinary  case.    He  twice  and  flowered  earlier,  than  those  on  the 

inserted  grafts  of  the  Aria  vestita  on  ungrafted  Aria. 

thorn-trees   (epin.es)  growing  in    pots ;  e5  '  Transact.  Hart.  Soc.,'  vol.  ii.  p. 

and  the  grafts,  as  they  grew,  produced  160. 


Cuap.  XI.        ANOMALOUS    REPRODUCTION,  ETC.  .  465 

grow  old  :  on  the  other  hand,  I  shall  hereafter  give  the  ease  of  some 
weeping  ashes  which  slowly  and  gradually  assumed  an  upright 
hahit  of  growth.  All  such  changes,  dependent  on  age.  may  bo 
compared  with  the  changes,  alluded  to  in  the  last  chapter,  which 
many  trees  naturally  undergo  ;  as  in  the  case  of  the  Deodar  and 
Cedar  of  Lebanon,  which  are  unlike  in  youth  and  closely  resemble 
each  other  in  old  age ;  and  as  with  certain  oaks,  and  with  some 
varieties  of  the  lime  and  hawthorn.86 

Before  giving  a  summary  on  Bud-variation  I  will  dis- 
cuss some  singular  and  anomalous  cases,  which  are  more 
or  less  closely  related  to  this  same  subject.  I  will  begin 
with  the  famous  case  of  Adam's  laburnum  or  Cytisus 
Adami,  a  form  or  hybrid  intermediate  between  two  very 
distinct  species,  namely,  C.  laburnum,  and  purpureus, 
the  common  and  purple  laburnum ;  but  as  this  tree  has 
often  been  described,  I  will  be  as  brief  as  I  can. 

Throughout  Europe,  in  different  soils  and  under  different  climates, 
branches  on  this  tree  have  repeatedly  and  suddenly  reverted  to  both 
parent-species  in  their  flowers  and  leaves.  To  behold  mingled  on 
the  same  tree  tufts  of  dingy-red,  bright  yellow,  and  purple  flowers, 
borne  on  branches  having  widely  different  leaves  and  manner  of 
growth,  is  a  surprising  sight.  The  same  raceme  sometimes  bears 
two  kinds  of  flowers ;  and  I  have  seen  a  single  flower  exactly  di- 
vided into  halves,  one  side  being  bright  yellow  and  the  other  pur- 
ple ;  so  that  one  half  of  the  standard -petal  was  yellow  and  of  larger 
size,  and  the  other  half  purple  and  smaller.  In  another  flower  the 
whole  corolla  was  bright  yellow,  but  exactly  half  the  calyx  was 
purple.  In  another,  one  of  the  dingy -red  wing-petals  had  a  bright 
yellow  narrow  stripe  on  it ;  and  lastly,  in  another  flower,  one  of  the 
stamens,  winch  had  become  slightly  foliaceous,  was  half  yellow 
and  half  purple ;  so  that  the  tendency  to  segregation  of  character 
or  reversion  affects  even  single  parts  and  organs.87  The  most  re- 
markable fact  about  this  tree  is  that  in  its  intermediate  state,  even 
when  growing  near  both  parent-species,  it  is  quite  sterile  ;  but  when 
the  flowers  become  pure  yellow  or  pure  purple  they  yield  seed.  I 
believe  that  the  pods  from  the  yellow  flowers  yield  a  full  comple- 


88  FW  the  cases  of  oaks  see  Alph.  De  87  For   analogous    facts,   see   Braun, 

Candolle   in   *  Bibl.   Univers.,'   (ieneva,  'Rejuvenescence,'    in    'Kay    Soc.    Bot. 

Nov.    1S62;    for    limes,   &c,    Loudon's  Mem.,'  1868,  p.  320;  aud  'Gard.  Chrcn.,' 

'Gard.  Mag.,'  vol.  xi.,  1835,  p.  503.  1S42,  p.  897. 
20* 


466  ANOMALOUS    MODES  Chap.  XI. 

merit  of  seed ;  they  certainly  yield  a  large  number.  Two  seedlings 
raised  by  Mr.  Herbert  from  such  seed 88  exhibited  a  purple  tinge  on 
the  stalks  of  their  flowers  ;  but  several  seedlings  raised  by  myself 
resembled  in  every  character  the  common  laburnum,  with  the  ex- 
ception that  some  of  them  had  remarkably  long  racemes:  these 
seedlings  were  perfectly  fertile.  That  such  purity  of  character  and 
fertility  should  be  suddenly  reacquired  from  so  hybridized  and  ste- 
rile a  form  is  an  astonishing  phenomenon.  The  branches  with  pur- 
ple flowers  appear  at  first  sight  exactly  to  resemble  those  of  C. 
purpureus  ;  but  on  careful  comparison  I  found  that  they  differed 
from  the  pure  species  in  the  shoots  being  thicker,  the  leaves  a  little 
broader,  and  the  flowers  slightly  shorter,  with  the  corolla  and  calyx 
less  brightly  purple  :  the  basal  part  of  the  standard-petal  also  plain- 
ly showed  a  trace  of  the  yellow  stain.  So  that  the  flowers,  at  least 
in  this  instance,  had  not  perfectly  recovered  their  true  character ; 
and  in  accordance  with  this,  they  were  not  perfectly  fertile,  for 
many  of  the  pods  contained  no  seed,  some  produced  one,  and  very 
few  contained ' as  many  as  two  seeds;  whilst  numerous  pods  on  a 
tree  of  the  pure  C.  purpureus  in  my  garden  contained  three,  four, 
and  five  fine  seeds.  The  pollen,  moreover,  was  very  imperfect,  a 
midtitude  of  grains  being  small  and  shrivelled ;  and  this  is  a  singu- 
lar fact ;  for,  as  we  shall  immediately  see,  the  pollen-grains  in  the 
dingy-red  and  sterile  flowers  on  the  parent-tree,  were,  in  external 
appearance,  in  a  much  better  state,  and  included  very  few  shrivelled 
grain.  Although  the  pollen  of  the  reverted  purple  flowers  was  in 
so  poor  a  condition,  the  ovules  were  well-formed,  and,  when  ma- 
ture, germinated  freely  with  me.  Mr.  Herbert  also  raised  plants 
from  seeds  of  the  reverted  purple  flowers,  and  they  differed  very 
little  from  the  usual  state  of  C.  purpureus ;  but  this  expression 
shows  that  they  had  not  perfectly  recovered  their  proper  character. 
Prof.  Caspary  has  examined  the  ovules  of  the  dingy-red  and 
sterile  flowers  in  several  plants  of  C.  adami  on  the  Continent,59  and 
finds  them  generally  monstrous.  In  three  plants  examined  by  me 
in  England,  the  ovules  were  likewise  monstrous,  the  nucleus  vary- 
ing much  in  shape,  and  projecting  irregularly  beyond  the  proper 
coats.  The  pollen-grains,  on  the  other  hand,  judging  from  their 
external  appearance,  were  remarkably  good,  and  readily  protruded 
their  tubes.  By  repeatedly  counting,  under  the  microscope,  the 
proportional  number  of  bad  grains,  Prof.  Caspary  ascertained  that 
only  25  per  cent,  were  bad,  which  is  a  less  proportion  than  in  the 


88  'Journal  of  Hort.   Soc.,'  vol.   ii.,        of  Amsterdam,'  1S65 ;  but  I  owe  most 
1847,  p.  100.  of  the  following  information  to  Prof.  Cas- 

89  See  '  Transact,  of  Ilort.  Congress       pary's  letters. 


Chap.  XI.       OF  REPRODUCTION   AND  VARIATION.  467 

pollen  of  three  pure  species  of  Cytisus  in  their  cultivated  state,  viz. 
0.  purpureas,  laburnum,  and  alpinw.  Although  the  pollen  of  V. 
adami  is  thus  in  appearance  good,  it  does  not  follow,  according 
to  M.  Naudin's  observations90  on  Mirahilis,  that  it  would  be  func- 
tionally effective.  The  fact  of  the  ovules  of  C.  adami  being  mon- 
strous, and  the  pollen  apparently  sound,  is  all  the  more  remarka- 
ble, because  it  is  opposed  to  what  usually  occurs  not  only  with 
most  hybrids,01  but  with  two  hybrids  in  the  same  genus,  namely  in 
C.  purpureo-elongeitus,  and  C.  alpino-labufnum.  In  both  these  hy- 
brids, the  ovules,  as  observed  by  Prof.  Caspary  and  myself,  were 
well-formed,  whilst  many  of  the  pollen  grains  were  ill-formed ;  in 
the  latter  hybrid  203  per  cent.,  and  in  the  former  no  less  than  848 
per  cent,  of  the  grains  were  ascertained  by  Prof.  Caspary  to  be  bad. 
This  unusual  condition  of  the  male  and  female  reproductive  ele- 
ments in  G.  adami  has  been  used  by  Prof.  Caspary  as  an  argument 
against  this  plant  being  considered  as  an  ordinary  hybrid  produced 
from  seed ;  but  we  should  remember  that  with  hybrids  the  ovules 
have  not  been  examined  nearly  so  frequently  as  the  pollen,  and 
they  may  be  much  oftener  imperfect  than  is  generally  supposed. 
Dr.  E.  Bornet,  of  Antibes,  informs  me  (through  Mr.  J.  Traherne  Mog- 
gridge)  that  with  hybrid  Cisti  the  ovarium  is  frequently  deformed, 
the  ovules  being  in  some  cases  quite  absent,  and  in  other  cases  in 
capable  of  fertilisation. 

Several  theories  have  been  propounded  to  account  for  the  origin 
of  C.  adami,  and  for  the  transformations  which  it  undergoes.  These 
transformations  have  been  attributed  by  some  authors  to  simple  bud- 
variation  ;  but  considering  the  wide  difference  between  C.  laburnum 
and  purpureus,  both  of  which  are  natural  species,  and  considering 
the  sterility  of  the  intermediate  form,  this  view  may  be  summarily 
rejected.  We  shall  presently  see  that,  with  hybrid  plants,  two 
different  embryos  may  be  developed  within  the  same  seed  and  co- 
here;  and  it  has  been  supposed  that  C.  adami  might  have  thus 
originated.  It  is  known  that  when  a  plant  with  variegated  leaves 
is  budded  on  a  plain  stock,  the  latter  is  sometimes  affected,  and  it  is 
believed  by  some  that  the  laburnum  has  been  thus  affected.  Thus 
Mr.  Purser  states02  that  a  common  laburnum-tree  in  his  garden, 
into  which  three  grafts  of  the  Cytisus  purpureus  had  been  inserted, 
gradually  assumed  the  character  of  0.  adami;  but  more  evidence 


80  'Nouvelles  Archives  du  Museum,'  9S  The  statement   is  believed  by  Dr. 

torn.  i.  p.  143.  Lindley  in  '  Gard.  Chron.,'  ISoT, pp.  0S2, 

01  See  on  this  head,  Naudin,  idem,  p.  400. 
Ml. 


468  ANOMALOUS    MODES  Chap.  XI. 

and  copious  details  would  be  requisite  to  make  so  extraordinary  a 
statement  credible. 

Many  authors  maintain  that  G.  adami  is  a  hybrid  produced  in 
the  common  way  by  seed,  and  that  it  has  reverted  by  buds  to  its 
two  parent-forms.  Negative  results  are  of  little  value  ;  but  Reis- 
seck,  Caspary,  and  I  myself,  tried  in  vain  to  cross  C.  laburnum  and 
purpureus;  when  I  fertilised  the  former  with  pollen  of  the  latter, 
I  had  the  nearest  approach  to  success,  for  pods  were  formed,  but  in 
sixteen  days  after  the  witflering  of  the  flowers  they  fell  off.  Never- 
theless, the  belief  that  G.  adami  is  a  spontaneously  produced  hybrid 
between  these  two  species  is  strongly  supported  by  the  fact  that  hy- 
brids between  these  species  and  two  others  have  spontaneously  arisen. 
In  a  bed  of  seedlings  from  G.  elongatus,  which  grew  near  to  G.  pur- 
pureus, and  was  probably  fertilised  by  it,  through  the  agency  of  in- 
sects (for  these,  as  I  know  by  experiment,  play  an  important  part  in 
the  fertilisation  of  the  laburnum),  the  sterile  hybrid  C.  purpureo- 
elongatus  appeared.93  Thus,  also,  Waterer's  laburnum,  the  G.  alpino- 
laburnum™  spontaneously  appeared,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Water- 
er,  in  a  bed  of  seedlings. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  a  clear  and  distinct  account  given  by 
M.  Adam,  who  raised  the  plant,  to  Poiteau,95  showing  that  G.  adami 
is  not  an  ordinary  hybrid.  M.  Adam  inserted  in  the  usual  manner 
a  shield  of  the  bark  of  G.  purpureus  into  a  stock  of  G.  laburnum;  and 
the  bud  lay  dormant,  as  often  happens,  for  a  year ;  the  shield  then 
produced  many  buds  and  shoots,  one  of  which  grew  more  upright 
and  vigorous  with  larger  leaves  than  the  shoots  of  C.  purpureus,  and 
was  consequently  propagated.  Now  it  deserves  especial  notice  that 
these  plants  were  sold  by  M.  Adam,  as  a  variety  of  G.  purpureus, 
before  they  had  flowered ;  and  the  account  was  published  by  Poi- 
teau after  the  plants  had  flowered,  but  before  they  had  exhibited 
their  remarkable  tendency  to  revert  into  the  two  parent-species. 


03  Braun,   in  '  Bot.    Mem.  Ray  Soc.,'  growing  not  above  thirty  or  forty  yards 

IBM,  p.  xxiii.  from  both  parent-species,  during  some 

94  This  hybrid  has  never  been  de-  seasons  yielded  no  good  seeds ;  but  in 
scribed.  It  is  exactly  intermediate  in  18G6  it  was  unusually  fertile,  and  its 
foliage,  time  of  flowering,  dark  striae  at  long  racemes  produced  from  one  toocca- 
the  base  of  the  standard  petal,  hairiness  sionally  even  four  pods.  Many  of  the 
of  the  ovarium,  and  in  almost  every  pods  contained  no  good  seeds,  but  gene- 
other  character,  between  C.  laburnum  rally  they  contained  a  single  apparently 
and  alpinus ;  but  it  approaches  the  good  seed,  sometimes  two,  and  in  one 
former  species  more  nearly  in  colour,  case  three  seeds.  Some  of  the  seeds  ger- 
and  exceeds    it  in  the    length  of   the  minated. 

racemes.    We  have  before  seen  that  203  85  '  Annates   de   la  Soc.   de  Hort.   de 

per  cent,  of  its  pollen-grains  are  ill-form-  Paris,'  torn,  vii.,  1830,  p.  93. 
ed   and  worthless.     My  niant,  though 


Chap.  XI.      OF  REPRODUCTION  AND  VARIATION.  469 

So  that  there  was  no  conceivable  motive  for  falsification,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  see  how  there  could  have  been  any  error.  If  we  admit 
as  true  Rf.  Adam's  account,  we  must  admit  the  extraordinary  fact 
that  two  distinct  species  can  Unite  by  their  cellular  tissue,  and  sub- 
sequently produce  a  plant  bearing  leaves  and  sterile  flowers  inter- 
mediate in  character  between  the  scion  and  stock,  and  producing 
buds  liable  to  reversion  ;  in  short,  resembling  in  every  important 
respect  a  hybrid  formed  in  the  ordinary  way  by  seminal  reproduc- 
tion. Such  plants,  if  really  thus  formed,  might  be  called  graft-hy- 
brids. 

I  will  now  give  all  the  facts  which  I  have  been  able  to  collect 
illustrative  of  the  above  theories,  not  for  the  sake  of  merely  throw- 
ing light  on  the  origin  of  C.  adami,  but  to  show  in  how  many  extra- 
ordinary and  complex  methods  one  kind  of  plant  may  affect  another, 
generally  in  connection  with  bud-variation.  The  supposition  that 
either  C.  laburnum  or  purpureas  produced  by  ordinary  bud-variation 
the  intermediate  and  the  other  form,  may,  as  already  remarked,  be 
absolutely  excluded,  from  the  want  of  any  evidence,  from  the  great 
amount  of  change  thus  implied,  and  from  the  sterility  of  the  inter- 
mediate form.  Nevertheless  such  cases  as  nectarines  suddenly  ap- 
pearing on  peach-trees,  occasionally  with  the  fruit  half-and-half  in 
nature, — moss-roses  appearing  on  other  roses,  with  the  flowers  divid- 
ed into  halves,  or  striped  with  different  colours, — and  other  such 
cases,  are  closely  analogous  in  the  result  produced,  though  not  in 
origin,  with  the  case  of  C.  adami. 

A  distinguished  botanist,  Mr.  G.  H.  Thwaites96  has  recorded  a  re- 
markable case  of  a  seed  from  FucJtsia  coceinea  fertilised  by  F.  ful- 
g&ns,  which  contained  two  embryos,  and  was  "  a  true  vegetable 
twin."  The  two  plants  produced  from  the  two  embryos  were  "ex- 
tremely different  in  appearance  and  character,"  though  both  resem- 
bled other  hybrids  of  the  same  parentage  produced  at  the  same  time. 
These  twin  plants  ''  were  closely  coherent,  below  the  two  pairs  of 
"  cotyledon-leaves,  into  a  single  cylindrical  stem,  so  that  they  had 
"  subsequently  the  appearance  of  being  branches  on  one  trunk." 
Had  the  two  united  stems  grown  up  to  their  fidl  height,  instead  of 
dying,  a  curiously  mixed  hybrid  would  have  been  produced ;  but 
even  if  some  of  the  buds  had  subsequently  reverted  to  both  parent- 
forms,  the  case,  although  more  complex,  would  not  have  been  strict- 
ly analogous  with  that  of  C.  adami.  On  the  other  hand,  a  mongrel 
melon  described  by  Sageret 97  perhaps  did  thus  originate  ;  for  the 


••  'Annals  and  Mag.   of  Nat.  Hist.,'  "  '  Poraologie     Physiolog.,'  1S30,   p. 

Marcb,  1S43.  12C. 


470  ANOMALOUS    MODES  Chap.  XI. 

two  main  branches,  which  arose  from  two  cotyledon-buds,  produced 
very  different  fruit, — on  the  one  branch  like  that  of  the  pater- 
nal variety,  and  on  the  other  branch  to  a  certain  extent  like  that  of 
the  maternal  variety,  the  melon  of  China. 

The  famous  bizzarria  Orange  offers  a  strictly  parallel  case  to  that 
of  C'ytisus  adami.  The  gardener  who  in  1644  in  Florence  raised  this 
tree,  declared  that  it  was  a  seedling  which  had  been  grafted  ;  and 
after  the  graft  had  perished,  the  stock  sprouted  and  produced  the 
bizzarria.  Gallesio,  who  carefully  examined  several  living  specimens 
and  compared  them  with  the  description  given  by  the  original  de- 
scriber  P.  Nato,98  states  that  the  tree  produces  at  the  same  time 
leaves,  flowers,  and  fruit,  identical  with  the  bitter  orange  and  with 
the  citron  of  Florence,  and  likewise  compound  fruit  with  the  two 
kinds  either  blended  together,  both  externally  and  internally,  oT 
segregated  in  various  ways.  This  tree  can  be  propagated  by  cut- 
tings, and  retains  its  diversified  character.  The  so-called  trifacial 
orange  of  Alexandria  and  Smyrna  "  resembles  in  its  general  nature 
the  bizzarria,  but  differs  from  it  in  the  sweet  orange  and  citron  being 
blended  together  in  the  same  fruit,  and  separately  produced  on  the 
same  tree  :  nothing  is  known  of  its  origin.  In  regard  to  the  bizzar- 
ria, many  authors  believe  that  it  is  a  graft -hybrid ;  Gallesio  on  the 
other  hand  thinks  that  it  is  an  ordinary  hybrid,  Avith  the  habit  of 
partially  reverting  by  buds  to  the  two  parent-forms  ;  and  we  have 
seen  in  the  last  chapter  that  the  species  in  this  genus  often  cross 
spontaneously. 

Here  is  another  analogous,  but  doubtful  case.  A  writer  in  the 
'Gardener's  Chronicle'100  states  that  an  uEsculus  rul/icunda  in  his 
garden  yearly  produced  on  one  of  its  branches  "  spikes  of  pale  yellow 
flowers,  smaller  in  size  and  somewhat  similar  in  colour  to  those  of 
JE.  flava."  If  as  the  editor  believes  JEsculus  rubicunda  is  a  hybrid 
descended  on  one  side  from  JE.  flava,  we  have  a  case  of  partial  re- 
version to  one  of  the  parent-forms.  If,  as  some  botanists  maintain, 
^E.  rubicunda  is  not  a  hj'brid,  but  a  natural  species,  the  case  is  one 
of  simple  bud-variation. 

The  following  facts  show  that  hybrids  produced  from  seed  in  the 
ordinary  way,  certainly  sometimes  revert  by  buds  to  their  parent- 
forms.    Hybrids  between  Tropaolum  minus  and  tnajus  m  at  first 


88  Gallesio,  '  611  Agruml  dei  6iard.  also  Prof.  Caspary,  in  '  Transact.  Ilort. 

Bot.  Agrar.  di  Firenze,'  1S39,  p.  11.     In  Congress  of  Amsterdam,'  1865. 

his  "Traite  du  Citrus,'  1811,  p.  146,  he  10°  '  6ard.  Chron.,'  1851,  p.  406. 

speaks  as  if  the  compound  fruit  con-  ,01  Gartner,    '  Bastarderzeugung,'    s. 

sisted  in  part  of  lemons,  but  this  appa-  549.     It  is,  however,  doubtful  whether 

rently  was  a  mistake.  these  plants  should  be  ranked  as  species 

00  '  Card.  Chron.,'  1S55,  p.  G2S.    See  or  varieties. 


Chap.  XI..     OF  REPRODUCTION  AND  VARIATION.  471 

produced  flowers  intermediate  in  size,  colour,  and  structure  between 
their  two  parents ;  but  later  in  the  season  some  of  these  plants  pro- 
duced flowers  in  all  respects  like  those  of  the  mother-form,  mingled 
with  flowers  still  retaining  the  visual  intermediate  condition.  A 
hybrid  Cereus  between  0.  sjieciosimmus  and  p7ii/llantJius,im  plants 
wliich  are  widely  different  in  appearance,  produced  for  the  first  three 
years  angular,  five-sided  stems,  and  then  some  flat  stems  like  those 
of  0.  pliyllanthus.  Kolreuter  also  gives  cases  of  hybrid  Lobelias  and 
Verbascums,  which  at  first  produced  flowers  of  one  colour,  and  later 
in  the  season  flowers  of  a  different  colour.103  Naudin 104  raised  fortyr 
hybrids  from  Datura  la>cis  fertilised  by  D.  stramonium  ;  and  three 
of  these  hybrids  produced  many  capsules,  of  which  a  half,  or  quarter, 
or  lesser  segment  was  smooth  and  of  small  size  like  the  capsule  of  the 
pure  D.  lavis,  the  remaining  part  being  spinose  and  of  larger  size  like 
the  capsule  of  the  pure  D.  stramonium  :  from  one  of  these  composite 
capsules,  plants  were  raised  which  perfectly  resembled  both  parent- 
forms. 

Turning  now  to  varieties.  A  seedling  apple,  conjectured  to  be 
of  crossed  parentage,  has  been  described  in  France,105  which  bears 
fruit,  with  one  half  larger  than  the  other,  of  a  red  colour,  acid  taste, 
and  peculiar  odour ;  the  other  side  being  greenish-yellow  \xxd  very 
sweet :  it  is  said  scarcely  ever  to  include  perfectly  developed  seed. 
I  suppose  that  this  is  not  the  same  tree  with  that  which  Gaudi- 
chaud 106  exhibited  before  the  French  Institute,  bearing  on  the  same 
branch  two  distinct  kinds  of  apples,  one  a  reinette  rouge,  and  the 
other  like  a  reinette  canada  jaunatre  :  this  double-bearing  variety 
can  be  propagated  by  grafts,  and  continues  to  produce  both  kinds  ; 
its  origin  is  unknown.  The  Rev.  J.  D.  La  Touche  sent  me  a  coloured 
drawing  of  an  apple  which  he  brought  from  Canada,  of  wh'ch  half, 
surrounding  and  including  the  whole  of  the  calyx  and  the  insertion 
of  the  footstalk,  is  green,  the  other  half  being  brown  and  of  the  na- 
ture of  the  pomme  gris  apple,  with  the  line  of  separation  between 
the  two  halves  exactly  defined.  The  tree  was  a  grafted  one,  and 
Mr.  La  Touche  thinks  that  the  branch  which  bore  this  curious  apple 
sprung  from  the  point  of  junction  of  the  graft  and  stock  :  had  this 
fact  been  ascertained,  the  case  would  probably  have  come  into  the 
small  class  of  graft -hybrids  presently  to  be  given.  But  the  branch 
may  have  sprung  from  the  stock,  which  no  doubt  was  a  seedling. 


102  Gartner,  '  Bastarderz.,',  s.  550.  105  L'lTermes,  Jan.  14,  1S37,  quoted 

103  '  Journal  de  Physique,'  torn,  xxiii.,  in  Loudon's  '  Gard.  Mag.,'  vol.  xiii.  p. 
1783,  p.  100.     '  Act.   Acad.  St.  Peters-  239. 

bunih,'  1781,  part.  i.  p.  249.  10°  'Comptes  Rendus,'  torn,  xxxiv., 

104  '  Nouvelles  Archives  du  Museum,'  1852,  p.  746. 
torn.  i.  p.  49.. 


472  ANOMALOUS    MODES  Chap.  XI. 

Prof.  H.  Lecoq,  who  has  made  a  great  number  of  crosses  between 
the  differently  coloured  varieties  ot Mirabilia  jo/pala,™7  finds  that  in 
the  seedlings  the  colours  rarely  combine,  but  form  distinct  stripes ; 
or  half  the  flower  is  of  one  colour  and  half  of  a  different  colour.  Some 
varieties  regularly  bear  flowers  striped  with  yellow,  white,  and 
red  ;  but  plants  of  such  varieties  occasionally  produce  on  the  same 
root  branches  with  uniformly  coloured  flowers  of  all  three  tints,  and 
other  branches  with  half-and-half  coloured  flowers  and  others  with 
marbled  flowers.  Gallesio  '0B  crossed  reciprocally  white  and  red  car- 
nations, and  the  seedlings  were  striped  ;  but  some  of  the  striped 
plants  also  bore  entirely  white  and  entirely  red  flowers.  Some  of 
these  plants  produced  one  year  red  flowers  alone,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  striped  flowers ;  or  conversely,  some  plants,  after  having 
borne  for  two  or  three  years  striped  flowers,  would  revert  and  bear 
exclusively  red  flowers.  It  may  be  worth  mentioning  that  I  fertil- 
ised the  Purple  Sweet-jiea  (Lathyrus  odoratus)  with  pollen  from  the 
light-coloured  Painted  Lady :  seedlings  raised  from  one  and  the 
same  pod  were  not  intermediate  in  character,  but  perfectly  resem- 
bled both  parents.  Later  in  the  summer,  the  plants  which  had  at 
first  borne  flowers  identical  with  those  of  the  Painted  Lady,  pro- 
duced flowers  streaked  and  blotched  with  purple ;  showing  in  these 
darker  marks  a  tendency  to  reversion  to  the  mother- variety.  Andrew 
Knight I09  fertilised  two  white  grapes  with  pollen  of  the  Aleppo 
grape,  which  is  darkly  variegated  both  in  its  leaves  and  fruit.  The 
result  was  that  the  young  seedlings  were  not  at  first  variegated, 
but  all  became  variegated  during  the  succeeding  summer  ;  besides 
this,  many  produced  on  the  same  plant  bunches  of  grapes  which 
were  all  black,  or  all  white,  or  lead-coloured  striped  with  white,  or 
white  dotted  with  minute  black  stripes ;  and  grapes  of  all  these 
shades  could  frequently  be  found  on  the  same  footstalk. 

In  most  of  these  cases  of  crossed  varieties,  and  in  some 
of  the  cases  of  crossed  species,  the  colours  proper  to  both 
parents  appeared  in  the  seedlings,  as  soon  as  they  first 
flowered,  in  the  form  of  stripes  or  larger  segments,  or  as 
whole  flowers  or  fruit  of  two  kinds  borne  on  the  same 
plant ;  and  in  this  case  the  appearance  of  the  two  colours 
cannot  strictly  be  said  to  be  due  to  reversion,  but  to  some 
incapacity  of  fusion,  leading  to  their  segregation.  When, 


107  'Geograph.    Bot.     de    l'Europe,'  108  '  Traite  du  Citrus,'  1811,  p.  45. 

torn.  in.  1854,  p.  405 ;  and  '  De  la  Fecon-  109  '  Transact.  Linn.  Soc.,'  vol.  ix.  p. 

dation,'  1862,  p.  802.  26S. 


Chap.  XI.      OF  REPRODUCTION  AND  VARIATION.  473 

however,  the  later  flowers  or  fruit,  produced  during  the 
same  season  or  during  a  succeeding  year  or  generation, 
become  striped  or  half-in-half,  &c.,  the  segregation  of  the 
two  colours  is  strictly  a  case  of  reversion  by  bud-varia- 
tion. In  a  future  chapter  I  shall  show  that,  with  animals 
of  crossed  parentage,  the  same  individual  has  been  known 
to  change  its  character  during  growth,  and  to  revert  to 
one  of  its  parents  which  it  did  not  at  first  resemble. 
From  the  various  facts  now  given  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  same  individual  plant,  whether  a  hybrid  or  a 
mongrel,  sometimes  returns  in  its  leaves,  flowers,  and 
fruit,  either  wholly  or  by  segments,  to  both  parent-forms 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  Cytisus  adarni,  and  the  Hiz- 
zarria  Orange. 

We  will  now  consider  the  few  facts  which  have  been 
recorded  in  support  of  the  belief  that  a  variety,  when 
grafted  or  budded  on  another  variety  sometimes  affects 
the  whole  stock,  or  at  the  point  of  junction  gives  rise  to 
a  bud,  or  graft-hybrid,  which  partakes  of  the  characters 
of  both  stock  and  scion. 

It  is  notorious  that  'when  the  variegated  Jessamine  is  budded  on 
the  common  kind,  the  stock  sometimes  produces  buds  bearing  vari- 
egated leaves  :  Mr.  Rivers,  as  be  informs  me,  has  seen  instances  of 
this.  The  same  thing  occurs  with  tbe  Oleander.110  Mr.  Rivers,  on 
the  authority  of  a  trustworthy  friend,  states  that  some  buds  of  a 
golden-variegated  ash,  which  were  inserted  into  common  ashes,  all 
died  except  one.  but  the  ash-stocks  were  affected,111  and  produced, 
both  above  and  below  the  points  of  insertion  of  the  plates  of  bark 
bearing  the  dead  buds,  shoots  which  bore  variegated  leaves.  Mr.  J. 
Anderson  Henry  has  communicated  to  me  a  nearly  similar  case : 
Mr.  Brown,  of  Perth,  observed  many  years  a<ro,  in  a  Highland  gli  n, 
an  ash-tree  with  yellow  leaves  ;  and  buds  taken  from  this  tree  were 
inserted  into  common  ashes,  which  in  consequence  were  affected, 
and  produced  the  Blotched  Breadalbane  Ash.   This  variety  has  been 


110  Gartner  ('  Bastarelerzeugung,'    s.  ln  A  nearly  similar  account  was  given 

611)  gives  many  references  on  this  sub-        by  Bradley,  in  1724,  in  Ms  '  Treatise  on 
jcct.  Husbandry,'  vol.  i.  p.  199. 


474  ANOMALOUS    MODES  Chap.  XI. 

propagated,  and  has  preserved  its  character  during  the  last  fifty 
years.  Weeping  ashes,  also,  were  budded  on  the  affected  stocks, 
and  became  similarly  variegated.  Many  authors  consider  variega- 
tion as  the  result  of  disease ;  and  on  this  view,  which  however  ia 
doubtful,  for  some  variegated  plants  are  perfectly  healthy  and  vi- 
gorous, the  foregoing  cases  may  be  looked  at  as  the  direct  result  of 
the  inoculation  of  a  disease.  Variegation  is  much  influenced,  as  we 
shall  hereafter  see,  by  the  nature  of  the  soil  in  wliich  the  plants  are 
grown  ;  and  it  does  not  seem  improbable  that  whatever  change  in 
the  sap  or  tissues  certain  soils  induce,  whether  or  not  called  a  dis- 
ease, might  spread  from  the  inserted  piece  of  bark  to  the  stock. 
But  a  change  of  this  kind  cannot  be  considered  to  be  of  the  nature 
of  a  graft-hybrid. 

There  is  a  variety  of  the  hazel  with  dark-purple  leaves,  like  those 
of  the  copper-beech :  no  one  has  attributed  this  colour  to  disease, 
and  it  apparently  is  only  an  exaggeration  of  a  tint  which  may  often 
be  seen  on  the  leaves  of  the  common  hazel.  When  this  variety  is 
grafted  on  the  common  hazel,112  it  sometimes  colours,  as  has  been 
asserted,  the  leaves  below  the  graft ;  but  I  should  add  that  Mr. 
Rivers,  who  has  possessed  hundreds  of  such  grafted  trees,  has  never 
seen  an  instance. 

Gartner 113  quotes  two  separate  accounts  of  branches  of  dark  and 
white-fruited  vines  which  had  been  united  in  various  ways,  such  as 
being  split  longitudinally,  and  then  joined,  &c. ;  and  these  branches 
produced  distinct  bunches  of  grapes  of  the  two  colours,  and  other 
bunches  with  grapes  either  striped  or  of  an  intermediate  and  new 
tint.  Even  the  leaves  in  one  case  were  variegated.  These  facts  are 
the  more  remarkable  because  Andrew  Knight  never  succeeded  in 
raising  variegated  grapes  by  fertilising  white  kinds  by  pollen  of 
dark  kinds ;  though,  as  we  have  seen,  he  obtained  seedlings  with 
variegated  fruit  and  leaves,  by  fertilising  a  white  variety  by  the 
variegated  dark  Aleppo  grape.  Gartner  attributes  the  above-quoted 
cases  merely  to  bud-variation ;  but  it  is  a  strange  coincidence  that 
the  branches  which  had  been  grafted  in  a  peculiar  manner  should 
alone  have  thus  varied ;  and  H.  Adorne  de  Tscharner  positively  as- 
serts that  he  produced  the  described  result  more  than  once,  and 
could  do  so  at  will,  by  splitting  and  uniting  the  branches  in  the 
manner  described  by  him. 

I  should  not  have  quoted  the  following  case  had  not  the  author 
of  '  Des  Jacinthes ' 1M  impressed  me  with  the  belief  not  only  of  his 
extensive  knowledge,  but  of  his  truthfulness :  he  says  that  bulbs 


112  Loudon's  'Arboretum,'  vol.  iv.  p.  113  '  Bastarderzeugunj;,' s.  G19. 

2595.  >14  Amsterdam,  176S,  p.  124. 


Chap.  XI.       OF  REPRODUCTION  AND  VARIATION.  475 

of  blue  and  red  hyacinths  may  be  cut  in  two,  and  that  they  will 
grow  together  and  throw  up  a  united  stein  (and  this  I  have  myself 
seen),  with  flowers  of  the  two  colours  on  the  opposite  sides.  But  the 
remarkable  point  is,  that  flowers  are  sometimes  produced  with  the 
two  colours  blended  together,  which  makes  the  case  closely  analo- 
gous with  that  of  the  blended  colours  of  the  grapes  on  the  united 
vine-branches. 

Mr.  R.  Trail  stated  in  1867,  before  the  Botanical  Society  of  Edin- 
burgh (and  has  since  given  me  fuller  information),  that  several  years 
ago  he  cut  about  sixty  blue  and  white  potatoes  into  halves  through 
the  eyes  or  buds,  and  then  carefully  joined  them,  destroying  at  the 
same  time  the  other  eyes.  Some  of  these  united  tubers  produced 
white,  and  others  blue  tubers  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  in  these  cases 
the  one  half  alone  of  the  bud  grew.  Some,  however,  produced 
tubers  partly  white  and  partly  blue  ;  and  the  tubers  from.about  four 
or  five  were  regularly  mottled  with  the  two  colours.  In  these  latter 
cases  we  may  conclude  that  a  stem  had  been  formed  by  the  union 
of  the  bisected  buds ;  and  as  tubers  are  produced  by  the  enlarge- 
ment of  subterranean  branches  arising  from  the  main  stem,  their 
mottled  colour  apparently  affords  clear  evidence  of  the  intimate  com- 
mingling of  the  two  varieties.  I  have  repeated  these  experiments 
on  the  potato  and  on  the  hyacinth  on  a  large  scale,  but  with  no 
success. 

The  most  reliable  instance  known  to  me  of  the  formation  of  a 
graft-hybrid  is  one,  recorded  by  Mr.  Poynter,115  who  assures  me,  in 
a  letter,  of  the  entire  accuracy  of  the  statement.  Rosa  Devoniensis 
had  been  budded  some  years  previously  on  a  white  Banksian  rose ; 
and  from  the  much  enlarged  point  of  junction,  whence  the  Devoni- 
ensis and  Banksian  still  continued  to  grow,  a  third  branch  issued, 
which  was  neither  pure  Banksian  nor  pure  Devoniensis,  but  partook 
of  the  character  of  both ;  the  flowers  resembled,  but  were  superior 
in  character  to  those  of  the  variety  called  Lamar  que  (one  of  the 
Noisettes),  while  the  shoots  were  similar  in  their  manner  of  growth 
to  those  of  the  Banksian  rose,  with  the  exception  that  the  longer 
and  more  robust  shoots  were  furnished  with  prickles.  This  rose  was 
exhibited  before  the  Floral  Committee  of  the  Horticultural  Society 
of  London.  Dr.  Lindley  examined  it,  and  concluded  that  it  had  cer- 
tainly been  produced  by  the  mingling  of  R.  Banksia?  with  sorao 
rose  like  R.  Devoniensis,  "for  while  it  was  very  greatly  increased 
in  vigour  and  in  the  size  of  all  the  parts,  the  leaves  were  half-way 
between  a  Banksian  and  Tea-scented  rose."     It  appears  that  rose- 


"J  '  Gard.  Chron.,'  I860,  p.  672,  with  a  woodcut. 


476  DIRECT    ACTION    OF   THE    MALE  Chap.  XI. 

growers  were  aware  that  the  Banksian  rose  sometimes  affects  other 
roses.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  latter  statement,  it  might  have  been 
suspected  that  this  new  variety  was  simply  due  to  bud-variation,  and 
that  it  had  occurred  by  a  mere  accident  at  the  point  of  junction  be- 
tween the  two  old  kinds.  ■ 

To  sum  up  the  foregoing  facts  :  the  statement  that 
Cytisus  adami  originated  as  a  graft-hybrid  is  so  precise 
that  it  can  hardly  be  rejected,  and,  as  Ave  have  just  seen, 
some  analogous  facts  render  the  statement  to  a  certain 
extent  probable.  The  peculiar,  monstrous  condition  of 
the  ovules,  and  the  apparently  sound  condition  of  the  pol- 
len, favour  the  belief  that  it  is  not  an  ordinary  or  seminal 
hybrid.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fact  that  the  same  two 
species,  viz.  C.  laburnum  and  purpureas,  have  spontane- 
ously produced  hybrids  by  seed,  is  a  strong  argument  in 
support  of  the  belief  that  C.  adami  originated  in  a  simi- 
lar manner.  With  respect  to  the  extraordinary  tendency 
which  this  tree  exhibits  to  complete  or  partial  reversion, 
we  have  seen  that  undoubted  seminal  hybrids  and  mon- 
grels are  similarly  liable.  On  the  whole,  I  am  inclined 
to  put  trust  in  M.  Adam's  statement ;  and  if  it  should 
ever  be  proved  true,  the  same  view  would  probably  have 
to  be  extended  to  the  Bizzarria  and  Trifacial  oranges  and 
to  the  apples  above  described  ;  but  more  evidence  is 
requisite  before  the  possibility  of  the  production  of  graft- 
hybrids  can  be  fully  admitted.  Although  it  is  at  present 
impossible  to  arrive  at  any  certain  conclusion  with  respect 
to  the  origin  of  these  remarkable  trees,  the  various  facts 
above  given  appear  to  me  to  deserve  attention  under  seve- 
ral points  of  view,  more  especially  as  showing  that  the 
power  of  reversion  is  inherent  in  Buds. 

On  the  direct  or  immediate  action  of  the  Male  Element 
on  the  Mother  Form. — Another  remarkable  class  of  facts 
must  be  here  considered,  because  they  have  been  sup- 
posed to  account  for  some  cases  of  bud-variation :  I  refer 
to  the  direct  action  of  the  male  element,  not  in  the  ordi- 


Chap.  XI.      ELEMENT    OX    THE    MOTHER    FORM.  477 

nary  way  on  the  ovules,  but  on  certain  parts  of  the  female 
plant,  or  in  the  case  of  animals  on  the  subsequent  progeny 
of  the  female  by  a  second  male.  I  may  premise  that 
with  plants  the  ovarium  and  the  coats  of  the  ovules 
are  obviously  parts  of  the  female,  and  it  could  not  have 
been  anticipated  that  they  would  be  affected  by  the  pollen 
of  a  foreign  variety  or  species,  although  the  develop- 
ment of  the  embryo,  within  the  embryonic  sack,  within 
the  ovule,  within  the  ovarium,  of  course  depends  on  the 
male  element. 

Even  as  long  ago  as  1~"29  it  was  observed116  that  white  and  blue 
varieties  of  the  Pea,  when  planted  near  each  other,  mutually  cross- 
ed, no  doubt  through  the  agency  of 'bees,  and  in  the  autumn  blue 
and  white  peas  were  found  within  the  same  pods.  Wiegmann 
made  an  exactly  similar  observation  in  the  present  century.  The 
same  result  has  followed  several  times  when  a  variety  with  peas  of 
one  colour  has  been  artificially  crossed  by  a  differently-coloured 
variety."7  These  statements  led  Gartner,  who  was  highly  sceptical 
on  the  subject,  carefully  to  try  a  long  series  of  experiments:  he  se- 
lected the  most  constant  varieties,  and  the  result  conclusively  showed 
that  the  colour  of  the  skin  of  the  pea  is  modified  when  pollen  of  a 
differently  coloured  variety  is  used.  This  conclusion  has  since  been 
confirmed  by  experiments  made  by  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Berkeley.11" 

Mr.  Laxton  of  Stamford,  whilst  making  experiments  on  peas  for 
the  express  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  influence  of  foreign  pollen 
on  the  mother-plant,  has  recently  "9  observed  an  important  additional 
fact.  He  fertilised  the  Tall  Sugar  pea,  Avhich  bears  very  thin  green 
pods,  becoming  brownish-white  when  dry,  with  pollen  of  the  Purple- 
podded  pea.  which,  as  its  name  expresses,  has  dark-purple  pods  with 
very  thick  skin,  becoming  pale  reddish-purple  when  dry.  Mr.  Lax- 
ton  has  cultivated  the  tall  sugar-pea  during  twenty  years,  and  has 
never  seen  or  heard  of  it  producing  a  purple  pod  ;  nevertheless,  a 
flower  fertilised  by  pollen  from  the  purple-pod  yielded  a  pod  clouded 
with  purplish-red,  which  Mr.  Laxton  kindly  gave  to  me.  A  space 
of  about  two  inches  in  length  towards  the  extremity  of  the  pod,  and 
a  smaller  space  near  the  stalk,  were  thus  coloured.     On  comparing 


us  '  philosophical     Transact.,'     vol.  tarderzeugunjr,'  1*49,  s.  SI  and  49?. 

xllii.,  1744-4."),  p.  595.  »«  '  Gard.  Chroo.,'  1S54,  p.  404. 

u'  Mr.    Swayne,  in 'Transact.    Unit.  119  Ibid.,  1S66,  p.  900. 
Soc.,'  vol.  v.  p.  234;  and  Gartner,  '  Bas- 


478  DIEECT    ACTION"    OF    THE    MALE  Chap.  XI. 

the  colour  with  that  of  the  purple-pod,  both  pods  having  been  first 
dried  and  then  soaked  in  water,  it  was  found  to  be  identically  the 
same  ;  and  in  both  the  colour  was  confined  to  the  cells  lying  imme- 
diately beneath  the  outer  skin  of  the  pod.  The  valves  of  the  crossed 
pod  were  also  decidedly  thicker  and  stronger  than  those  of  the  pods 
of  the  mother-plant,  but  this  may  have  been  an  accidental  circum- 
stance, for  I  know  not  how  far  their  thickness  in  the  Tall  Sugar-pea 
is  a  variable  character. 

The  peas  of  the  Tall  Sugar-pea,  when  dry,  are  pale  greenish-brown, 
thickly  covered  with  dots  of  dark  purple  so  minute  as  to  be  visible 
only  through  a  lens,  and  Mr.  Laxton  has  never  seen  or  heard  of  this 
variety  producing  a  purple  pea  ;  but  in  the  crossed  pod  one  of  the 
peas  was  of  a  uniform  beautiful  violet-purple  tint,  and  a  second  was 
irregularly  clouded  with  pale  purple.  The  colour  lies  in  the  outer 
of  the  two  coats  which  surround  the  pea.  As  the  peas  of  the  purple- 
podded  variety  when  dry  are  of  a  pale  greenish-buff,  it  would  at 
first  appear  that  this  remarkable  change  of  colour  in  the  peas  in  the 
crossed  pod  could  not  have  been  caused  by  the  direct  action  of  the 
pollen  of  the  purple-pod  :  but  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  this  latter 
variety  has  purple  flowers,  purple  marks  on  its  stipules,  and  purple 
pods ;  and  that  the  Tall  sugar-pea  likewise  has  purple  flowers  and  sti- 
pules, and  microscopically  minute  purple  dots  on  the  peas,  we  can 
hardly  doubt  that  the  tendency  to  the  production  of  purple  in  both 
parents  has  in  combination  modified  the  colour  of  the  peas  in  the 
crossed  pod.  After  having  examined  these  specimens,  I  crossed  the 
same  two  varieties,  and  the  peas  in  one  pod,  but  not  the  pods  them- 
selves, were  clouded  and  tinted  with  purplish-red  in  a  much  more 
conspicuous  manner  than  the  peas  in  the  uncrossed  pods  produced  at 
the  same  time  by  the  same  plants.  I  may  notice  as  a  caution  that 
Mr.  Laxton  sent  me  various  other  crossed  peas  slightly,  or  even 
greatly,  modified  in  colour ;  but  the  change  in  these  cases  was  due, 
as  had  been  suspected  by  Mr.  Laxton,  to  the  altered  colour  of  the 
cotyledons,  seen  through  the  transparent  coats  of  the  peas  ;  and  as 
the  cotyledons  are  parts  of  the  embryo,  these  cases  are  not  in  any 
way  remarkable. 

Turning  now  to  the  genus  Matthiola.  The  pollen  of  one  kind  of 
stock  sometimes  affects  the  colour  of  the  seeds  of  another  kind, 
used  as  the  mother-plant.  I  give  the  following  case  the  more  read- 
ily, as  Gartner  doubted  similar  statements  with  respect  to  the  stock 
previously  made  by  other  observers.  A  well-known  horticulturist, 
Major  Trevor  Clarke,  informs  me120  that  the  seeds  of  the  large  red- 


120  &ealso  a  paper  by  this  observer,  read  before  the  International  Hort.  and  Bot. 
Congress  of  London,  1860. 


Chap.  XL      ELEMENT    ON    THE    MOTHER    FOKM.  479 

• 

flowered  biennial  stock  {MatthMa  annua ;  Oocardeau  of  the  French) 
are  light  brown,  and  those  of  the  purple  branching  Queen  stock  [M. 
ineana)  are  violet-black  ;  and  he  found  that,  when  flowers  of  the  red 
stock  were  fertilised  by  pollen  from  the  purple  stock,  they  yielded 
about  fifty  per  cent,  of  black  seeds.  He  sent  me  four  pods  from  a  red- 
flowered  plant,  two  of  which  had  been  fertilised  by  their  own  pollen, 
and  they  included  pale  brown  seed  :  and  two  which  had  been  crossed 
by  pollen  from  the  purple  kind,  and  they  included  seeds  all  deeply 
tinged  with  black.  These  latter  seeds  yielded  purple-flowered  plants 
like  their  father ;  whilst  the  pale  brown  seeds  yielded  normal  red- 
flowered  plants  ;  and  Major  Clarke,  by  sowing  similar  seeds,  has  ob- 
served on  a  greater  scale  the  same  result.  The  evidence  in  this  case 
of  the  direct  action  of  the  pollen  of  one  species  on  the  colour  of  the 
seeds  of  another  species  appears  to  me  conclusive. 

In  the  foregoing  cases,  with  the  exception  of  that  of 
the  purple-podded  pea,  the  coats  of  the  seeds  alone  have 
been  affected  in  colour.  "We  shall  now  see  that  the  ova- 
rium itself,  whether  forming  a  large  fleshy  fruit  or  a  mere 
thin  envelope,  may  be  modified  by  foreign  pollen,  in 
colour,  flavour,  texture,  size,  and  shape. 

The  most  remarkable  instance,  because  carefully  recorded  by 
highly  competent  authorities,  is  one  of  which  I  have  seen  an  account 
in  a  letter  written,  in  1867,  by  M.  Xaudin  to  Dr.  Hooker.  M.  Xaudin 
states  that  he  has  seen  fruit  growing  on  Cham&rops  humilis,  which 
had  been  fertilised  by  M.  Denis  with  pollen  from  the  Phoenix  or 
date-palm.  The  fruit  or  drupe  thus  produced  was  twice  as  large  as, 
and  more  elongated  than,  that  proper  to  the  Chamaerops ;  so  that  it 
was  intermediate  in  these  respects,  as  well  as  in  texture,  between 
the  fruit  of  the  two  parents.  These  hybridised  seeds  germinated, 
and  produced  young  plants  likewise  intermediate  in  character.  This 
case  is  the  more  remarkable  as  the  Chama?rops  and  Phoenix  belong 
not  only  to  distinct  genera,  but  in  the  estimation  of  some  botanists 
to  distinct  sections  of  the  family. 

Gallesio121  fertilised  the  flowers  of  an  orange  with  pollen  from 
the  lemon ;  and  one  fruit  thus  produced  bore  a  longitudinal  stripe 
of  peel  having  the  colour,  flavour,  and  other  characters  of  the  lemon. 
Mr.  Anderson  '"  fertilised  a  green-fleshed  melon  with  pollen  from  a 
scarlet-fleshed  kind ;  in  two  of  the  fruits  "  a  sensible  change  was 


121  'Traite  da  Citrus,'  p.  40. 

1:2  '  Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  iv.  p.  SIS.     See  also  vol.  v.  p.  65. 


480  DIRECT    ACTIOIST    OF    TTIE    MALE  Chap.  XL 

perceptible  ;  and  four  other  fruits  were  somewhat  altered  both  inter- 
nally and  externally."  The  seeds  of  the  two  first-mentioned  fruits 
produced  plants  partaking  of  the  good  properties  of  both  parents. 
In  the  United  States,  where  Cucurbitaceae  are  largely  cultivated,  it 
is  the  popular  belief1'23  that  the  fruit  is  thus  directly  affected  by 
foreign  pollen  ;  and  I  have  received  a  similar  statement  with  respect 
to  the  cucumber  in  England.  It  is  known  that  grapes  have  been 
thus  affected  in  colour,  size,  and  shape :  in  France  a  pale-coloured 
grape  had  its  juice  tinted  by  the  pollen  of  the  dark-coloured  Tein- 
turier ;  in  Germany  a  variety  bore  berries  which  were  affected  by 
the  pollen  of  two  adjoining  kinds  ;  some  of  the  berries  being  only 
partially  affected  or  mottled.124  As  long  ago  as  1751  125  it  was  ob- 
served that,  Avhen  differently  coloured  varieties  of  maize  grow  near 
each  other,  they  mutually  affect  each  other's  seeds,  and  this  is  now 
a  popular  belief  in  the  United  States.  Dr.  Savi 126  tried  the  experi- 
ment with  care :  he  sowed  yellow  and  black-seeded  maize  together, 
and  on  the  same  ear  some  of  the  seeds  were  yellow,  some  black,  and 
some  mottled,127  the  differently  coloured  seeds  being  arranged  in 
rows  or  irregularly.  Mr.  Sabine  states 128  that  he  has  seen  the  form 
of  the  nearly  globular  seed-capsule  of  Amaryllis  vittata  altered  by 
the  application  of  the  pollen  of  another  species,  of  which  the  capsule 
has  gibbous  angles.  •  Mr.  J.  Anderson  Henry  129  crossed  Rhododen- 
dron JDalhousice  with  the  pollen  of  R.  Nuttallii,  which  is  one  of  the 
largest  flowered  and  noblest  species  of  the  genus.  The  largest  pod 
produced  by  the  former  species,  when  fertilised  with  its  own  pollen, 


123  prof.  Asa  Gray,  '  Proc.  Acad.  Sc.,'  the  two  parents  do  not  readily  unite,  as 
Boston,  vol.  iv.,  1S69,  p.  21.  in  the  cases  of  Mirabilis  and  Dianthus 

124  For  the  French  case,  see  '  Proc.  given  a  few  pages  back.  Thirdly,  in 
Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  i.  new  series,  1S66,  p.  50.  crossed  plants  of  a  subsequent  genera- 
For  Germany,  see  M,  Jack,  quoted  in  tion,  by  reversion,  through  either  bud  or 
Henfrey's  '  Botanical  Gazette,'  vol.  i.  p.  seminal  generation.  Fourthly,  by  rever- 
277.  A  case  in  England  has  recently  sion  to  a  character  not  originally  gained 
been  alluded  to  by  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Berke-  by  across,  but  which  had  long  been  lost, 
ley  before  the  Hort.  Soc.  of  London.  as  with  white-flowered  varieties,  which 

125  '  philosophical  Transactions,'  vol.  we  shall  hereafter  see  often  become 
xlvii.,  1751-52,  p.  206.  striped  with  some  other  colour.    Lastly, 

126  Gallesio,  '  Teoria  della  Riprodu-  there  are  cases,  as  when  peaches  are  pro- 
zione,'  1S1C,  p.  95.  duced  with  a  half  or  quarter  of  the  fruit 

127  It  may  be  worth  while  to  call  at-  like  a  nectarine,  in  which  the  change  is 
tention  to  the  several  means  by  which  apparently  due  to  mere  variation.through 
flowers  and  fruit  become  striped  or  mot-  either  bud  or  seminal  generation. 

tied.     Firstly,  by  the  direct  action  of  the  128  '  Transact.  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.   v.  p. 

pollen  of  another  variety  or  species,  as  69. 

with  the   above-given  cases  of  oranges  12°  '  Journal  of  Horticulture,' 'Jan.  20, 

and  maize.     Secondly,  in  crosses  of  the  1S63,  p.  46. 

first  generation,   when   the    colours   of 


Chap.  XI.      ELEMENT    ON    THE    MOTHER    FORM.  481 

measured  l'jj  in  length  and  IV  in  girth ;  whilst  three  of  the  pods 
which  had  been  fertilised  by  pollen  of  7.'.  NuttaUii  measured  1|  inch 
in  length  and  no  less  than  2  inches  in  girth.  Here  we  see  the 
effect  of  foreign  pollen  apparently  confined  to  increasing  the  size  of 
the  ovarium  ;  but  we  must  be  cautious  in  assuming,  as  the  follow- 
ing case  shows,  that  in  this  instance  size  has  been  directly  trans- 
ferred from  the  male  parent  to  the  capsitle  of  the  female  plant.  Mr. 
Henry  fertilised  Arabis  blepharophyUa  with  pollen  of  A.  Soyeri,  and 
the  pods  thus  produced,  of  which  he  was  so  kind  as  to  send  me  de- 
tailed measurements  and  sketches,  were  much  larger  in  all  their  di- 
mensions than  those  naturally  produced  by  either  the  male  or  female 
parent-species.  In  a  future  chapter  we  shall  see  that  the  organs  of 
vegetation  in  hybrid  plants,  independently  of  the  character  of  either 
parent,  are  sometimes  developed  to  a  monstrous  size  ;  and  the  in- 
creased size  of  the  pods  in  the  foregoing  cases  may  be  an  analogous 
fact. 

No  case  of  the  direct  action  of  the  pollen  of  one  variety  on  another 
is  better  authenticated  or  more  remarkable  than  that  of  the  common 
apple.  The  fruit  here  consists  of  the  lower  part  of  the  calyx  and  of 
the  upper  part  of  the  flower-peduncle  I3°  in  a  metamorphosed  condi- 
tion, so  that  the  effect  of  the  foreign  pollen  has  extended  even  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  ovarium.  Cases  of  apples  thus  affected  were 
recorded  by  Bradley  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  ;  and  other 
cases  are  given  in  old  vol  umes  of  the  Philosophical  Transactions  ;m 
in  one  of  these  a  Russeting  apple  and  an  adjoining  kind  mutually 
affected  each  other's  fruit ;  and  in  another  case  a  smooth  apple  af- 
fected a  rough-coated  kind.  Another  instance  has  been  given  132  of 
two  very  different  apple-trees  growing  close  to  -each  other,  which 
bore  fruit  resembling  each  other,  but  only  on  the  adjoining  branches. 
It  is,  however,  almost  superfluous  to  adduce  these  or  other  cases, 
after  that  of  the  St.  Valery  apple,  which,  from  the  abortion  of  the 
stamens,  does  not  produce  pollen,  but,  being  annually  fertilised  by 
the  girls  of  the  neighbourhood  with  pollen  of  many  kinds,  bears 
fruit,  "  differing  from  each  other  in  size,  flavour,  and  colour,  but  re- 
sembling in  character  the  hermaphrodite  kinds  by  which  they  have 
been  fertilised."  133 


130  See  on  this  head  the  high  autho-  la  Degeneration,'  1S3T,  p.  36)  several 
rity  of  Prof.  Decaisne,  in  a  paper  trans-  other  instances ;  but  it  is  not  in  all  cases 
lated  in  '  Proc.  Hort.  Soc.,' vol.  i.  new  possible  to  distinguish  between  the  di- 
series,  1SG6,  p.  48.  rect  action   of  foreign  pollen   and  bud- 

131  Vol.   xliii.,   1744-45,   p.  525;   vol.  variations. 

xlv.,  1747-K  p.  603.  133  T.  de  Clermont-Tonnerre,  in  'Mum. 

132  'Transict.  Hort,  Soc.,'  vol.  v.  pp.  de  la  Soc.  Linn,  de  Paris,'  torn,  ill.,  1S25, 
C3  and  03.    Pu  vis  also  has  collected  ('De  p.  164. 

21 


482  .  DIRECT    ACTION    OF    THE    MALE  Chap.  XI. 

I  have  now  shown,  on  the  authority  of  several  excel- 
lent observers,  in  the  case  of  plants  belonging  to  widely 
different  orders,  that  the  pollen  of  one  species  or  variety, 
when  applied  to  a  distinct  form,  occasionally  causes  the 
coats  of  the  seeds  and  the  ovarium  or  fruit,  including 
even  in  one  instance  the  calyx  and  upper  part  of  the  pe- 
duncle of  the  mother-plant,  to  become  modified.  Some- 
times the  whole  of  the  ovarium  or  all  the  seeds  are  thus 
affected  ;  sometimes  only  a  certain  number  of  the  seeds, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  pea,  or  only  a  part  of  the  ovarium, 
as  with  the  striped  orange,  mottled  grapes  and  maize, 
are  thus  affected.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  any  di- 
rect or  immediate  effect  invariably  follows  the  use  of 
foreign  pollen  :  this  is  far  from  being  the  case ;  nor  is  it 
known  on  what  conditions  the  result  depends.  Mr. 
Knight 134  expressly  states  that  he  has  never  seen  the 
fruit  thus  affected,  though  he  has  crossed  thousands  of 
apple  and  other  fruit-trees.  There  is  not  the  least  reason  to 
believe  that  a  branch  which  has  borne  seed  or  fruit  direct- 
ly modified  by  foreign  pollen  is  itself  affected,  so  as  sub- 
sequently to  produce  modified  buds :  such  an  occurrence, 
from  the  temporary  connection  of  the  flower  with  the 
stem,  would  be  hardly  possible.  Hence  but  very  few,  if 
any,  of  the  cases  of  sudden  modifications  in  the  fruit  of 
trees,  given  in  the  early  part  of  this  chapter,  can  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  action  of  foreign  pollen  ;  for  such  modi- 
fied fruits  have  commonly  been  afterwards  propagated  by 
budding  or  grafting.  It  is  also  obvious  that  changes  of 
colour  in  the  flower  which  necessarily  supervene  long  be- 
fore it  is  ready  for  fertilisation,  and  changes  in  the  shape 
or  colour  of  the  leaves,  can  have  no  relation  to  the  action 
of  foreign  pollen :  all  such  cases  must  be  attributed  to 
simple  bud-variation. 

The  proofs  of  the  action  of  foreign  pollen  on  the  mother- 
plant  have  been  given  in  considerable  detail,  because  this 


1S«  'Transact  of  Hort.  Soc.,'  vol.  v,  p.  68. 


Chap.  xi.      ELEMENT    ON    THE    MOTHER    FORM.  483 

action,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  future  chapter,  is  of  the  highest 
theoretical  importance, •and  because  it  is  in  itself  a  re- 
markable and  apparently  anomalous  circumstance.  That 
it  is  remarkable  under  a  physiological  point  of  view  is 
clear,  for  the  male  element  not  only  affects,  in  accordance 
with  its  proper  function,  the  germ,  but  the  surrounding 
tissues  of  the  mother-plant.  That  the  action  is  anomalous 
in  appearance  is  true,  but  hardly  so  in  reality,  for  appa- 
rently it  plays  the  same  part  in  the  ordinary  fertilisation 
of  many  flowers.  Gartner  has  shown,136  by  gradually  in- 
creasing the  number  of  pollen-grains  until  he  succeeded 
in  fertilising  a  Malva,  that  mauy  grains  are  expended  in 
the  development,  or,  as  he  expresses  it,  in  the  satiation, 
of  the  pistil  and  ovarium.  Again,  when  one  plant  is  fer- 
tilised by  a  widely  distinct  species,  it  often  happens  that 
the  ovarium  is  fully  and  quickly  developed  without  any 
seeds  being  formed,  or  the  coats  of  the  seeds  are  devel- 
oped without  an  embryo  being  formed  within.  Dr.  Hil- 
debrand  also  has  lately  shown  in  a  valuable  paper  136  that, 
with  several  Orchidea?,  the  action  of  the  plant's  own  pol- 
len is  necessary  for  the  development  of  the  ovarium,  and 
that  this  development  takes  place  not  only  long  before 
the  pollen-tubes  have  reached  the  ovules,  but  even  before 
the  placenta}  and  ovules  have  been  formed  ;  so  that  with 
these  orchids  the  pollen  apparently  acts  directly  on  the 
ovarium.  On  the  other  hand,  we  must  not  overrate  the 
efficacy  of  pollen  in  this  respect ;  for  in  the  case  of  hy- 
bridised plants  it  might  be  argued  that  an  embryo  had 
been  formed  and  had  affected  the  surrounding  tissues  of 
the  mother-plant  before  it  perished  at  a  very  early  age. 
Again,  it  is  well  known  that  with  many  plants  the  ovarium 
may  be  fully  developed,  though  pollen  be  wholly  excluded. 
And  lastly,  Mr.  Smith,  the  late  Curator  at  Kew  (as  I  hear 


134  '  Beitrage  zur  Kenntniss  der  Be-        ein  Beweis  fur  die  doppelte  Wirkung  des 
fruchtung,'  1S44,  s.  34T-351.  Pollen,'   Botanische   Zeitung,   No.  44  et 

»•  'DieFruchtbildungderOrchideeD,        seq.,  Oct.  30,  1S63  ;  and  1SG5,  s.  249. 


484  DIRECT    ACTION    OF    THE    MALE  Chap.  XI. 

through  Dr.  Hooker),  observed  the  singular  fact  with 
an  orchid,  the  Bonatea  speciosapihe  development  of  the 
ovarium  could  be  effected  by  mechanical  irritation  of  the 
stigma.  Nevertheless,  from  the  number  of  the  pollen- 
grains  expended  "  in  the  satiation  of  the  ovarium  and 
pistil," — from  the  generality  of  the  formation  of  the 
ovarium  and  seed-coats  in  sterile  hybridised  plants, — and 
from  Dr.  Hildebrand's  observations  on  orchids,  we  may 
admit  that  in  most  cases  the  swelling  of  the  ovarium, 
and  the  formation  of  the  seed-coats,  are  at  least  aided,  if 
not  wholly  caused,  by  the  direct  action  of  the  pollen,  in- 
dependently of  the  intervention  of  the  fertilised  germ. 
Therefore,  in  the  previously-given  cases  we  have  only  to 
add  to  our  belief  in  the  power  of  the  plant's  own  pollen 
on  the  development  of  the  ovarium  and  seed-coats,  its 
further  power,  when  applied  to  a  distinct  species  or 
variety,  of  influencing  the  shape,  size,  colour,  texture, 
&c,  of  these  same  parts. 

Turning  now  to  the  animal  kingdom.  If  we  could 
imagine  the  same  flower  to  yield  seeds  during  successive 
years,  then  it  would  not  be  very  surprising  that  a  flower 
of  which  the  ovarium  had  been  modified  by  foreign  pol- 
len should  next  year  produce,  when  self-fertilised,  off- 
spring modified  by  the  previous  male  influence.  Closely 
analogous  cases  have  actually  occurred  with  animals. 
In  the  case  often  quoted  from  Lord  Morton,137  a  nearly 
purely-bred,  Arabian,  chesnut  mare  bore  a  hybrid  to  a 
quagga ;  she  was  subsequently  sent  to  Sir  Gore  Ouseley, 
and  produced  two  colts  by  a  black  Arabian  horse.  These 
colts  were  partially  dun-coloured,  and  were  striped  on  the 
legs  more  plainly  than  the  real  hybrid,  or  even  than  the 
quagga.  One  of  the  two  colts  had  its  neck  and  some 
other  parts  of  its  body  plainly  marked  with  stripes. 
Stripes  on  the  body,  not  to  mention  those  on  the  legs, 


137  '  Philos.  Transact.,'  1821,  p.  20. 


Chap.  XI.      ELEMENT    ON    THE    MOTHER    FORM.  485 

and  the  dun  colour,  are  extremely  rare, — I  speak  after 
having  long  attended  to  the  subject, — with  horses  of 
all  kinds  in  Europe,  and  are  unknown  in  the  case  of 
Arabians.  But  what  makes  the  case  still  more  striking 
is  that  the  hair  of  the  mane  in  these  colts  resembled  that 
of  the  quagga,  being  short,  stiff,  and  upright.  Hence 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  quagga  affected  the  cha- 
racter of  the  offspring  subsequently  begot  by  the  black 
Arabian  horse.  With  respect  to  the  varieties  of  our  do- 
mesticated animals,  many  similar  and  well-authenticated 
facts  have  been  published,138  and  others  have  been  com- 
municated to  me,  plainly  showing  the  influence  of  the 
first  male  on  the  progeny  subsequently  borne  by  the 
mother  to  other  males.  It  will  suifice  to  give  a  single  in- 
stance, recorded  in  the  '  Philosophical  Transactions,'  in  a 
paper  following  that  by  Lord  Morton :  Mr.  Giles  put  a 
sow  of  Lord  Western's  black  and  white  Essex  breed  to  a 
wild  boar  of  a  deep  chesnut  colour ;  and  the  "  pigs  pro- 
duced partook  in  appearance  of  both  boar  and  sowj  but  in 
some  the  chesnut  colour  of  the  boar  strongly  prevailed." 
After  the  boar  had  long  been  dead,  the  sow  was  put  to 
a  boar  of  her  own  black  and  white  breed, — a  kind  which 
is  well  known  to  breed  very  true  and  never  to  show  any 
chesnut  colour, — yet  from  this  union  the  sow  produced 
some  young  pigs  which  were  plainly  marked  with  the 
same  chesnut  tint  as  in  the  first  litter.  Similar  cases 
have  so  frequently  occurred,  that  careful  breeders  avoid 
putting  a  choice  female  to  an  inferior  male  on  account  of 


138  Dr.  Alex.  Harvey  on   'A  remark-  has  collected  several  cases  with  respect 

able  Effect  of  Cross-breeding,'  1S51.     On  to  mares,  sows,  and  dogs.      Mr.  W.  C 

the  '  Physiology  of  Breeding,'   by  Mr.  L.  Martin  ('  History  of  the  Dog,'  1845, 

Reginald  Orton,  1865.     '  Intermarriage,'  p.  104)  says  he  can  personally  vouch  for 

by   Alex.   Walker,   1-31.      '  L'Heredite  the  influence  of  the  male  parent  of  the 

Naturelle,'  by  Dr.  Prosper  Lucas,  torn.  first  litter  on  the  subsequent  litters  by 

ii.  p.  58.     Mr.  W.  Sedgwick  in  '  British  other  fathers.     A  French  poet,  Jacque3 

and  Foreign  Medico-Chirurgical  Review,  Savary,  who  wrote  in  1GG5  on  dogs,  was 

1S63,  July,  p.  183.     Bronn,  in  his  '  Ge-  aware  of  this  singular  fact, 
schichte  der  Natur,'  1S43,  B.  ii.  s.  127, 


486  CONCLUSION    AND    SUMMARY  Chap.  XI. 

the  injury  to  her  subsequent  progeny  which  may  be  ex- 
pected to  follow. 

Some  physiologists  have  attempted  to  account  for  these 
remarkable  results  from  a  first  impregnation  by  the  close 
attachment  and  freely  intercommunicating  blood-vessels 
between  the  modified  embryo  and  the  mother.  But  it  is 
a  most  improbable  hypothesis  that  the  mere  blood  of  one 
individual  should  affect  the  reproductive  organs  of  an- 
other individual  in  such  a  manner  as  to  modify  the  sub- 
sequent offspring.  The  analogy  from  the  direct  action 
of  foreign  pollen  on  the  ovarium  and  seed-coats  of  the 
mother-plant  strongly  supports  the  belief  that  the  male 
element  acts  directly  on  the  reproductive  organs  of  the 
female,  wonderful  as  is  this  action,  and  not  through  the 
intervention  of  the  crossed  embryo.  With  birds  there  is 
no  such  close  connection  between  the  embryo  and  mother 
as  in  the  case  of  mammals  :  yet  a  careful  observer,  Dr. 
Chapuis,  states  139  that  with  pigeons  the  influence  of  a 
first  male  sometimes  makes  itself  perceived  in  the  suc- 
ceeding broods  ;  but  this  statement,  before  it  can  be  fully 
trusted,  requires  confirmation. 

ConcIusio?i  and  Summary  of  the  Chapter. — The  facts 
given  in  the  latter  half  of  this  chapter  are  well  worthy  of 
consideration,  as  they  show  us  in  how  many  extraordina- 
ry modes  one  organic  form  may  lead  to  the  modification 
of  another,  and  often  without  the  intervention  of  seminal 
reproduction.  There  is  ample  evidence,  as  we  have  just 
seen,  that  the  male  element  may  either  directly  affect  the 
structure  of  the  female,  or  in  the  case  of  animals  lead  to 
the  modification  of  her  offspring.  There  is  a  considerable 
but  insufficient  body  of  evidence  showing  that  the  tissues 
of  two  plants  may  unite  and  form  a  bud  having  a  blend- 
ed character ;  or  again,  that  buds  inserted  into  a  stock 
may  affect  all  the  buds  subsequently  produced  by  this 


i"  'Le  Pigeon  Voyageur  Beige,'  1865,  p.  59. 


Chap.  XI.  OF    THE    CHAPTER.  487 

Stock.  Two  embryos,  differing  from  each  other  and  con- 
tinued in  the  same  seed,  may  cohere  and  form  a  single 
plant.  Offspring  from  a  cross  between  two  species  or 
varieties  may  in  the  first  or  in  a  succeeding  generation 
revert  in  various  degrees  by  bud-variation  to  their  parent- 
forms  ;  and  this  reversion  or  segregation  of  character  may 
affect  the  whole  flower,  fruit,  or  leaf-bud,  or  only  the  half 
or  smaller  segment,  or  a  single  organ.  In  some  cases  this 
segregation  of  character  apparently  depends  on  some  in- 
capacity of  union  rather  than  on  reversion,  for  the  flow- 
ers or  fruit  which  are  first  produced  display  by  segments 
the  characters  of  both  parents.  In  the  Cytisus  adami 
and  the  Bizzarria  orange,  whatever  their  origin  may  have 
been,  the  two  parent  species  occur  blended  together  un- 
der the  form  of  a  sterile  hybrid,  or  -reappear  with  their 
characters  perfect  and  their  reproductive  organs  effec- 
tive ;  and  these  trees,  retaining  the  same  sportive  charac- 
ter, can  be  propagated  by  buds.  These  various  facts 
ought  to  be  well  considered  by  any  one  who  wishes  to 
embrace  under  a  single  point  of  view  the  various  modes 
of  reproduction  by  gemmation,  division,  and  sexual  union, 
the  reparation  of  lost  parts,  variation,  inheritance,  rever- 
sion, and  other  such  phenomena.  In  a  chapter  towards 
the.  close  of  the  following  volume  I  shall  attempt  to  con- 
nect these  facts  together  by  a  provisional  hypothesis. 

In  the  early  half  of  this  chapter  I  have  given  a  long 
list  of  plants  in  which  through  bud-variation,  that  is,  in- 
dependently of  reproduction  by  seed,  the  fruit  has  sud- 
denly become  modified  in  size,  colour,  flavour,  hairiness, 
shape,  and  time  of  maturity  ;  flowers  have  similarly 
changed  in  shape,  colour,  and  doubleness,  and  greatly  in 
the  character  of  the  calyx ;  young  branches  or  shoots 
have  changed  in  colour,  in  bearing  spines,  and  in  habit 
of  growth,  as  in  climbing  and  weeping ;  leaves  have 
changed  in  colour,  variegation,  shape,  period  of  unfolding, 
and  in  their  arrangement  on  the  axis.  Buds  of  all  kinds, 
whether  produced  on  ordinary  branches  or  on  subterranean 


488  CONCLUSION    AND    SUMMARY  Chap.  XI. 

stems,  whether  simple  or,  as  in  tubers  and  bulbs,  much 
modified  and  supplied  with  a  stock  of  nutriment,  are  all 
liable  to  sudden  variations  of  the  same  genei*al  nature. 

In  the  list,  many  of  the  cases  are  certainly  due  to  re- 
version to  characters  not  acquired  from  a  cross,  but  which 
Avere  formerly  present,  and  have  been  lost  for  a  longer  or 
shorter  period  of  time  ; — as  Avhen  a  bud  on  a  variegated 
plant  produces  plain  leaves,  or  when  variously-coloured 
flowers  on  the  Chysanthemum  revert  to  the  aboriginal 
yellow  tint.  Many  other  cases  included  in  the  list  are 
probably  due  to  the  plants  being  of  crossed  parentage, 
and  to  the  buds  reverting  to  one  of  the  two  parent-forms. 
In  illustration  of  the  origin  of  Cytisus  adami,  several  cases 
were  given  of  partial  or  complete  reversion,  both  with 
hybrid  and  mongrel  plants  ;  hence  we  may  suspect  that 
the  strong  tendency  in  the  Chrysanthemum,  for  instance, 
to  produce  by  bud-variation  differently-coloured  flowers, 
results  from  the  varieties  formerly  having  been  intention- 
ally or  accidentally  crossed  ;  and  that  their  descendants 
at  the  present  day  still  occasionally  revert  by  buds  to  the 
colours  of  the  more  persistent  parent-varieties.  This  is 
almost  certainly  the  case  with  Rollison's  Unique  Pelargo- 
nium ;  and  so  it  may  be  to  a  large  extent  with  the  bud- 
varieties  of  the  Dahlia  and  with  the  "  broken  colours  " 
of  Tulips. 

Many  cases  of  bud-variation,  however,  cannot  be  attri- 
buted to  reversion,  but  to  spontaneous  variability,  such 
as  so  commonly  occurs  with  cultivated  plants  when  raised 
from  seed.  As  a  single  variety  of  the  Chrysanthemum 
has  produced  by  buds  six  other  varieties,  and  as  one  va- 
riety of  the  gooseberry  has  borne  at  the  same  time  four 
distinct  varieties  of  fruit,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  believe 
that  all  these  variations  are  reversions  to  former  parents. 
We  can  hardly  believe,  as  remarked  in  a  previous  chapter, 
that  all  the  many  peaches  which  have  yielded  nectarine- 
buds  are  of  crossed  parentage.  Lastly,  in  such  cases  as 
that  of  the  moss-rose  with  its  peculiar  calyx,  and  of  the 


Chap.  XI.  OF    THE    CHAPTER.  489 

rose  which  bears  opposite  leaves,  in  that  of  the  Imato- 
phyllum,  tfcc,  there  is  no  known  natural  species  or  seed- 
ling variety,  from  which  the  characters  in  question  could 
have  been  derived  by  crossing.  We  must  attribute  all 
such  cases  to  actual  variability  in  the  buds.  The  varie- 
ties which  have  thus  arisen  cannot  be  distinguished  by 
any  external  character  from  seedlings  ;  this  is  notoriously 
the  case  with  the  varieties  of  the  Rose,  Azalea,  and  many 
other  plants.  It  deserves  notice  that  all  the  plants  which 
have  yielded  bud-variations  have  likewise  varied  greatly 
by  seed. 

These  plants  belong  to  so  many  orders  that  we  may- 
infer  that  almost  every  plant  would  be  liable  to  bud- 
variation  if  placed  under  the  proper  exciting  conditions. 
These  conditions,  as  far  as  we  can  judge,  mainly  depend 
on  long-continued  and  high  cultivation  ;  for  almost  all 
the  plants  in  the  foregoing  lists  are  perennials,  and  have 
been  largely  propagated  in  many  soils  and  under  different 
climates,  by  cuttings,  offsets,  bulbs,  tubers,  and  especially 
by  budding  or  grafting.  The  instances  of  annuals  vary- 
ing by  buds,  or  producing  on  the  same  plant  differently 
coloured  flowers  are  comparatively  rare :  Hopkirk140  has 
seen  this  with  Convolvulus  tricolor;  and  it  is'not  rare 
wkh  the  balsam  and  annual  Delphinium.  According  to 
Sir  R.  Schomburgk,  plants  from  the  warmer  temperate 
regions,  when  cultivated  under  the  hot  climate  of  St.  Do- 
mingo, are  eminently  liable  to  bud-variation  ;  but  change 
of  climate  is  by  no  means  3  necessary  contingent,  as  we 
see  with  the  gooseberry,  currant,  and  some  others.  Plants 
living  undor  their  natural  conditions  are  very  rarely 
subject  to  bud-variation:  variegated  and  coloured  leaves 
have,  however,  been  occasionally  observed  ;  and  I  have 
given  an  instance  of  the  variation  of  buds  on  an  ash-tree; 
but  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  tree  planted  in  ornamental 
grounds  can  be  considered  as  living  under  strictly  natural 


140  '  Flora  Anomala.'  p   164. 


490  CONCLUSION    AND    SUMMARY  Chap.  XL 

conditions.  Gartner  has  seen  white  and  dark-red  flowers 
produced  from  the  same  root  of  the  wild  Achillea  mille- 
folium; and  Prof.  Caspary  has  seen  Viola  lutea,  in  a  com- 
pletely wild  condition,  bearing  flowers  of  different  colours 
and  sizes.141 

As  wild  plants  are  so  rarely  liable  to  bud-variation, 
whilst  highly  cultivated  plants  long  propagated  by  arti- 
ficial means  have  yielded  by  this  form  of  reproduction 
many  varieties,  we  are  led  through  a  series  such  as  the 
following, — namely,  all  the  eyes  in  the  same  tuber  of  the 
potato  varying  in  the  same  manner, — all  the  fruit  on  a  pur- 
ple plum-tree  suddenly  becoming  yellow, — all  the  fruit  on 
a  doubled-flowered  almond  suddenly  becoming  peachlike, 
— all  the  buds  on  grafted  trees  being  in  some  very  slight 
degree  affected  by  the  stock  on  which  they  have  been 
worked, — all  the  flowers  on  a  transplanted  heartsease 
changing  for  a  time  in  color,  size,  and  shape, — we  are  led 
through  such  facts  to  look  at  every  case  of  bud-variation 
as  the  direct  result  of  the  particular  conditions  of  life  to 
which  the  plant  has  been  exposed.  But  if  we  turn  to  the 
other  end  of  the  series,  namely,  to  such  cases  as  that  of  a 
peach-tree  which,  after  having  been  cultivated  by  tens  of 
thousands  during  many  years  in  many  countries,  and  after 
having  annually  produced  thousands  of  buds,  all  of  which 
have  apparently  been  exposed  to  precisely  the  same  con- 
ditions, yet  at  last  suddenly  produces  a  single  bud  with 
its  whole  character  greatly  transformed,  we  are  driven  to 
an  opposite  conclusion.  In  .such  cases  as  the  latter  it 
would  appear  that  the  transformation  stands  in  no  direct 
relation  to  the  conditions  of  life. 

We  have  seen  that  varieties  produced  from  seeds  and 
from  buds  resemble  each  other  so  closely  in  general  ap- 
pearance, that  they  cannot  possibly  be  distinguished. 
Just  as  certain  species  and  groups  of  species,  when  propa- 
gated by  seed,  are  more  variable  than  other  species  or 


">  '  Schriften  der  Phys-6'kon.  Gesell.  zu  Konigsberg,'  Band  vi.,  Feb.  3, 1S65,  s.  4. 


Chap.  XI.  OF    THE    CHAPTER.  491 

genera,  so  it  is  in  the  case  of  certain  bud-varieties.  Thus 
the  Queen  of  England  Chrysanthemum  has  produced  by 
this  latter  process  no  less  than  six,  and  Rollison's  Unique 
Pelargonium  four  distinct  varieties ;  moss-roses  have  also 
produced  several  other  moss-roses.  The  Rosacea?  have 
varied  by  buds  more  than  any  other  group  of  plants ; 
but  this  may  be  in  large  part  due  to  so  many  members 
having  been  long  cultivated ;  but  within  this  one  group, 
the  peach  has  often  varied  by  buds,  whilst  the  apple  and 
pear,  both  grafted  trees  extensively  cultivated,  have  af- 
forded, as  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  extremely  few  instances 
of  bud-variation. 

The  law  of  analogous  variation  holds  good  with  vari- 
eties produced  by  buds,  as*  with  those  produced  from 
seed  :  more  than  -one  kind  of  rose  has  sported  into  a 
moss-rose ;  more  than  one  kind  of  camellia  has  assumed 
an  hexagonal  form ;  and  at  least  seven  or  eight  varieties 
of  the  peach  have  ■produced  nectarines. 

The  laws  of  inheritance  seem  to  be  nearly  the  same 
with  seminal  and  bud-varieties.  We  know  how  com- 
monly reversion  comes  into  play  with  both,  and  it  may 
affect  the  whole,  or  only  segments,  of  a  leaf,  flower,  or 
fruit.  When  the  tendency  to  reversion  affects  many  buds 
on  the  same  tree,  it  becomes  covered  with  different  kinds 
of  leaves,  flowers,  or  fruit ;  but  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  such  fluctuating  varieties  have  generally  arisen  from 
seed.  It  is  well  known  that,  out  of  a  number  of  seed- 
ling varieties,  some  transmit  their  character  much  more 
truly  by  seed  than  others ;  so  with  bud-varieties  some  re- 
tain their  character  by  successive  buds  more  truly  than 
others;  of  which  instances  have  been  given  with  two 
kinds  of  variegated  Euonymus  and  with  certain  kinds  of 
tulips.  Notwithstanding  the  sudden  production  of  bud- 
varieties,  the  characters  thus  acquired  are  sometimes  ca- 
pable of  transmission  by  seminal  reproduction  :  Mr.  Ri- 
vers has  found  that  moss-roses  generally  reproduce  them- 
selves by  seed ;  and  the  mossy  character  has  been  trans- 


492  CONCLUSION    AND    SUMMARY  Chap.  XT. 

ferred  by  crossing,  from  one  species  of  rose  to  another. 
The  Boston  nectarine,  which  appeared  as  a  bud-variation, 
produced  by  seed  a  closely  allied  nectarine.  We  have 
however  seen,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Salter,  that  seed 
taken  from  a  branch  with  leaves  variegated  through  bud- 
variation,  transmits  this  character  very  feebly ;  whilst 
many  plants,  which  became  variegated  as  seedlings,  trans- 
mit variegation  to  a  large  proportion  of  their  progeny. 

Although  I  have  been  able  to  collect  a  good  many 
cases  of  bud-variation,  as  shown  in  the  previous  lists, 
and  might  probably,  by  searching  foreign  horticultural 
works,  have  collected  more  cases,  yet  their  total  number 
is  as  nothing  in  comparison  with  that  of  seminal  varie- 
ties. With  seedlings  raised  from  the  more  variable  culti- 
vated plants,  the  variations  are  almost  infinitely  nume- 
rous, but  their  differences  are  generally  slight :  only  at 
long  intervals  of  time  a  strongly  marked  modification 
appears.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  singular  and  inexpli- 
cable fact  that,  when  plants  vary  by  buds,  the  variations, 
though  they  occur  with  comparative  rarity,  are  often,  or 
even  generally,  strongly  pronounced.  It  struck  me  that 
this  might  perhaps  be  a  delusion,  and  that  slight  changes 
often  occurred  in  buds,  but  from  being  of  no  value  were 
overlooked  or  not  recorded.  Accordingly  I  applied  to 
two  great  authorities  on  this  subject,  namely,  to  Mr. 
Rivers  with  respect  to  fruit-trees,  and  to  Mr.  Salter  with 
respect  to  flowers.  Mr.  Rivers  is  doubtful,  but  does  not 
remember  having  noticed  very  slight  variations  in  fruit- 
buds.  Mr.  Salter  informs  me  that  with  flowers  such  do 
occur,  but,  if  propagated,  they  generally  lose  their  new 
character  in  the  following  year;  yet  he  concurs  with  me 
that  bud-variations  usually  at  once  assume  a  decided  and 
permanent  character.  We  can  hardly  doubt  that  this  is 
the  rule,  when  we  reflect  on  such  cases  as  that  of  the 
peach,  which  has  been  so  carefully  observed  and  of  which 
such  trifling  seminal  varieties  have  been  propagated,  yet 
this  tree  has  repeatedly  produced  by  bud-variation  nee- 


Chap.  XI.  OF   THE    CHAPTER.  493 

tarincs,  and  only  twice  (as  far  as  I  can  learn)  any  Other 
variety,  namely,  the  Early  and  Late  Gi-osse  Mignonne 
preaches;  and  these  differ  from  the  parent-tree  in  hardly 
any  character  except  the  period  of  maturity. 

To  my  surprise  I  hear  from  Mr.  Salter  that  he  brings 
the  great  principle  of  selection  to  bear  on  variegated 
plants  propagated  by  buds,  and  has  thus  greatly  improved 
and  fixed  several  varieties.  He  informs  me  that  at  first 
a  branch  often  produces  variegated  leaves  on  one  side 
alone,  and  that  the  leaves  are  marked  only  with  an  ir- 
regular edging  or  with  a  few  lines  of  white  and  yellow. 
To  improve  and  fix  such  varieties,  he  finds  it  necessary  to 
encourage  the  buds  at  the  bases  of  the  most  distinctly 
marked  leaves,  and  to  propagate  from  them  alone.  By 
following  with  perseverance  this  plan  during  three  or 
four  successive  seasons,  a  distinct  and  fixed  variety  can 
generally  be  secured. 

Finally,  the  facts  given  in  this  chapter  prove  in  how 
close  and  remarkable  a  manner  the  germ  of  a  fertilised 
seed  and  the  small  cellular  mass  forming  a  bud  resemble 
each  other  in  function, — in  their  powers  of  inheritance 
with  occasional  reversion, — and  in  their  capacity  for  vari- 
ation of  the  same  general  nature,  in  obedience  to  the 
same  laws.  This  resemblance,  or  rather  identity,  is  ren- 
dered far  more  striking  if  the  facts  can  be  trusted  which 
apparently  render  it  probable  that  the  cellular  tissue  of 
one  species  or  variety,  when  budded  or  gi-afted  on  another, 
may  give  rise  to  a  bud  having  an  intermediate  character. 
In  this  chapter  we  clearly  see  that  variability  is  not  ne- 
cessarily contingent  on  sexual  generation,  though  much 
more  frequently  its  concomitant  than  on  bud-reproduc- 
tion. We  see  that  bud-variability  is  not  solely  depend- 
ent on  reversion  or  atavism  to  long-lost  characters,  or  to 
those  formerly  acquired  from  a  cross,  but  that  it  is  often 
spontaneous.  But  when  we  ask  ourselves  what  is  the 
cause  of  any  particular  bud-variation,  we  are  lost  in  doubt, 
beinsr  driven  in  some  cases  to  look  to  the  direct  action  of 


494  CONCLUSION    AND    SUMMARY.  Chap.  XI. 

the  external  conditions  of  life  as  sufficient,  and  in  other 
cases  to  feel  a  profound  conviction  that  these  have  played 
a  quite  subordinate  part,  of  not  more  importance  than 
the  nature  of  the  spark  which  ignites  a  mass  of  combusti- 
ble matter. 

END    OF   VOL.   I. 


GARDENING  FOR  PROFIT, 

In  the  Market  and.  Family  Garden, 
By  Peter  Henderson. 

finely   illustrated. 

This  is  the  first  work  on  Market  Gardening  ever  published  in  this 
country.  Its  author  is  well  known  as  a  market  gardener  of  eighteen 
years'  successful  experience.  In  this  work  he  has  recorded  this 
experience,  and  given,  without  reservation,  the  methods  necessary 
to  the  profitable  culture  of  the  commercial  or 

MARKET     GARDEN. 

It  is  a  work  for  which  there  has  long  been  a  demand,  and  one 
which  will  commend  itself,  not  only  to  those  who  grow  vegetables 
for  sale,  but  to  the  cultivator  of  the 

FAMILY  GARDEN, 

to  whom  it  presents  methods  quite  different  from  the  old  ones  gen- 
erally practiced.  It  is  an  original  and  purely  American  work,  and 
not  made  up,  as  books  on  gardening  too  often  are,  by  quotations 
from  foreign  authors. 

Every  thing  is  made  perfectly  plain,  and  the  subject  treated  in  all 
Us  details,  from  the  selection  of  the  soil  to  preparing  the  products 
for  market. 

CONTENTS. 

Men  fitted  for  the  Business  of  Gardening. 

The  Amount  of  Capital  Required,  and 

"Working  li'orce  per  Acre. 

Profits  of  Market  Gardening. 

Location,  Situation,  and  Laying  Out. 

Soils,  Drainage,  and  Preparation. 

Manures,  Implements. 

Uses  and  Management  of  Cold  Frames. 

Formation  and  Management  of  Hot-beds. 

Forcing  Pits^or  Green-houses. 

Seeds  and  Seed  Raising. 

How,  "When,  and  "Where  to  Sow  Seeds. 

Transplanting,  Insects. 

Packing  of  "Vegetables  for  Shipping. 

Preservation  of  Vegetables  in  Winter. 

Vegetables,  their  Varieties  and  Cultivation. 

In  the  last  chapter,  the  most  valuable  kinds  are  described,  and 
the  culture  proper  to  each  is  given  in  detail. 

Sent   post-paid,   price  $1.50. 
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THE 

SMALL    FKUIT    CULTURIST. 

BT 

ANDREW  S.  FULLER. 
Beautifully  Illustrated, 

We  have  heretofore  had  no  work  especially  devoted  to  small 
fruits,  and  certainly  no  treatises  anywhere  that  give  the  information 
contained  in  this.  It  is  to  the  advantage  of  special  works  that  the 
author  can  say  all  that  he  Las  to  say  on  any  subject,  and  not  be 
restricted  as  to  space,  as  he  must  be  in  those  works  that  cover  the 
culture  of  all  fruits — great  and  small 

This  book  covers  the  whole  ground  of  Propagating  Small  Fruits, 
their  Culture,  Varieties,  Packing  for  Market,  etc.  While  very  full  on 
the  other  fruits,  the  Currants  and  Raspberries  have  been  more  care- 
fully elaborated  than  ever  before,  and  in  this  important  part  of  his 
book,  the  author  has  had  the  invaluable  counsel  of  Charles  Downing. 
The  chapter  on  gathering  and  packing  the  fruit  is  a  valuable  one, 
and  in  it  are  figured  all  the  baskets  and  boxes  now  in  common  use. 
The  book  is  very  finely  and  thoroughly  illustrated,  and  makes  an 
admirable  companion  to  the  Grape  Culturist,  by  the  same  author. 

CONTENTS: 

Chap.     I.  Barberry.  Chap.  VII.  Gooseberry. 

Chap.  II.  Strawberry.  Chap.  VIII.  Cornelian  Cherry. 

Chap.  III.  Raspberry.  Chap.     IX.  Cranberry. 

Chap.  IV  Blackberry.  Chap.      X.  Huckleberry. 

CnAP.   V.  Dwarf  Cherry.  Chap.    XI.  Sheperdia. 

Chap.  VI.  Currant.  Chap.  XII.  Preparation     fo*> 

GATHERING  FRUIT. 


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ORANGE    JUDD    &    CO.,    245    Broadway,    New-York. 


AMERICAN     POMOLOGY. 
APPLES. 


By   IDoct.  JOHN    A.  WARDER, 

PRESIDENT  OHIO  POMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY;  VICE-PRESIDEST  AMERICAN  POMOLOG  IOAfc 
8«CIETT. 

293    ILH>TRATIO\S. 

Tliis  volume  has  about  750  pages,  the  first  375  of  -which  are  de 
Tdted  to  the  discussion  of  the  general  subjects  of  propagation,  nur- 
sery culture,  selection  and  planting,  cultivation  of  orchards,  care  of 
fruit,  insects,  and  the  like ;  the  remainder  is  occupied  with  descrip- 
tions of  apples.  With  the  richness  of  material  at  hand,  the  trouble 
was  to  decide  what  to  leave  out.  It  will  be  found  that  while  the 
old  and  standard  varieties  are  not  neglected,  the  new  and  promising 
sorts,  especially  those  of  the  South  and  "West,  have  prominence. 
A  list  of  selections  for  different  localities  by  eminent  orchardists  ia 
a  valuable  portion  of  the  volume,  while  the  Analytical  Index  oi 
Catalogue  Raisonne,  as  the  French  would  say,  is  the  most  extended 
American  fruit  list  ever  published,  and  gives  evidence  of  a  fearful 
amount  of  labor. 

CONTENTS. 

Chapter  I INTRODUCTORY. 

Chapter         II— HISTORY  OF  THK   APPLE. 
Chapter        III PROPAGATION. 

Buds  and  Cuttings— Grafting— Budding— The  Nursery. 

Chapter       TV— DWARFING. 

Chapter         V DISEASES. 

Chapter       VI THE    SITE    FOR    AN    ORCHARD. 

Chapter     VII.— PREPARATION  OF  SOU.  FOR  AN  ORCHARD. 

Chapter   VIII SELECTION  AND  PLANTING. 

Chapter       IX— CULTURE,  Etc. 

Chapter         X PHILOSOPHY   OF   PRUNING. 

Chapter       XI.— THINNING. 

Chapter     XH — RIPENING  AND  PRESERVING   FRUITS. 

Chapter  XIII  and  XTV— INSECTS. 

Chapter     XV— CHARACTERS      OF      FRUITS      AND      THEIR 
VALUE— TERMS   USED. 

Chapter   XVI CLASSIFICATION. 

Necessity  for— Basis  of— Characters — Shape — Its  Regu- 
larity—Flavor—Color—Their several  Values,  etc.,  De- 
scription of  Apples. 

Chapter XVTI FRUIT   LISTS— CATALOGUE   AND  INDEX  OF 

FRUITS. 

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COPELAND'S  COUNTRY  LIFE. 

A    COMPENDIUM 

OF 

Agricultural    and    Horticultural 

PRACTICAL      KNOWLEDGE. 

< 

Beautifully  Illustrated. 

It  contains  Descriptions,  Hints,  Suggestions,  and  Details  of  great  value  to 
every  one  interested  in  Fruit,  Flowers,  Vegetables,  or  Farm  Crops.  It  con- 
tains 926  large  Octavo  Pages,  and  250  Engravings.  Describing  and  U- 
lustrating  nearly  the  whole  range  of  topics  of  interest  to  the  FARMER,  the 
GARDENER,  the  FRUIT  CULTURIST,  and  the  AMATEUR. 

It  is  adapted  not  only  to  those  owning  large  and  Elegant  Estates,  but  con- 
tains directions  for  the  best  arrangement  of  the  smallest  Plots,  down  to  the 
City  Yard,  the  Roof  or  Window  Garden,  or  the  simple  Flower  Stand.  It 
also  gives  an  abstract  of  the  Principles,  Construction,  and  Management  of 
Aquariums.    Among  numerous  other  matters  it  treats  of 

Draining1,  Giving  best  methods,  estimates  of  cost,  trenches,  tiles,  etc., 
thus  enabling  almost  any  one  properly  to  perform  this  important  work. 

Cattle  are  carefully  noticed  with  reference  to  the  special  merits  of  dif- 
ferent breeds  for  dairying  or  fattening. 

Sheep  Management,  including  Breeding,  Feeding,  Prices,  Profits, 
etc.,  receives  attention,  and  a  very  full  treatise  on  the  Merinos  is  given. 

Grape  Culture  occupies  a  large  space;  embracing  the  opinions  of 
men  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  as  to  best  sorts,  planting,  training,  diseases, 
and  general  management  for  home  use  or  marketing. 

Full  L<istS  of  Ornamental  Trees  and  Shrubs,  Fruits,  Flowers,  Green 
and  Hot-house  Plants,  etc.,  are  given,  with  directions  for  management  each 
month  in  the  year. 

The  Kitchen  Garden  receives  particular  attention,  with  lefcr- 
ence  to  the  best  way  to  grow  and  preserve  each  kind  of  Vegetable. 

In  short,  as  its  name  indicates,  the  book  treats  of  almost  every  subject  that 
needs  consideration  by  those  living  in  the  country,  or  having  any  thing  to  do 
with  the  cultivation  of  the  soil. 

Sezxt    IFost-^stica.-      .      .      I^aric©,   $S.OO. 

N  E  W-Y  O  R  K  : 

Orange     Judd    «5t    Co.,    S4£5    Broadwav. 


MY  VINEYARD  AT  LAKEVIEW ; 

OR, 

SUCCESSFUL    GRAPE    CULTURE. 
BY   A   WESTERN   GRAPE   GROWER. 

ILLUSTRATED. 

To  any  one  who  wishes  to  grow  grapes,  whethe*  a  single  vine  or  a  vine* 
yard,  this  book  is  full  of  valuable  teachings.  The  author  gives  not  only  his 
success,  but,  what  is  of  quite  as  much  importance,  his  failure.  It  tells  just 
what  the  beginner  in  grape  culture  wishes  to  know,  with  the  charm  that 
always  attends  the  relation  of  personal  experience. 

It  is  especially  valuable  as  giving  an  account  of  the  processes  actually 
followed  in 

CELEBRATED    GRAPE    REGIONS 

• 

in  Western  New- York  and  on  the  shores  and  islands  of  Lake  Erie. 

This  book  is  noticed  by  a  writer  in  the  Horticulturist  for  August  last  as 
follows  :  "  Two  works  very  different  in  character  and  value  have  just  been 
published,  and  seem  to  demand  a  passing  notice.  The  better  and  less  pre- 
tentious of  the  two  is  '  My  Vineyard  at  Lakeview,'  a  charming  little  book 
that  professes  to  give  the  actual  experience  of  a  western  grape  grower,  de- 
tailing not  only  his  successes,  but  his  blunders  and  failures.  It  is  written 
in  a  pleasant  style,  without  any  attempt  at  display,  and  contains  much  ad. 
vice  that  will  prove  useful  to  a  beginner — the  more  useful  because  derived 
from  the  experience  of  a  man  who  had  no  leisure  for  fanciful  experiments, 
but  has  been  obliged  to  make  his  vineyard  support  himself  and  his  familj." 


Written  in  a  simple  and  attractive  style,  and  relating  the  experience  cf  one  who  felt 
his  way  along  into  the  successful  cultivation  of  a'vineyard  in  Ohio. — Mass.  Ploughman. 

It  is  the  experience  of  a  practical  grape  grower,  and  not  the  theory  of  an  experi- 
menter.— Bath  Daily  Sentinel  and  Times. 

It  has  no  superior  as  an  attractive  narrative  of  country  life. — Hartford  Daily  Post. 

Many  books  have  been  written  on  the  grape,  but  this  is  the  only  work  that  gives  an 
account  of  grape  growing  as  actually  practiced  at  the  successful  vineyards  in  the  jrrapa 
region  of  the  West,  and  will  be  welcomed  by  a  large  class  of  readers.— New-Bedford 
Standard. 

This  little  volume  contains,  in  an  attractive  form,  and  in  clear  and  concise  language, 
just  the  information  needed  to  enable  any  one  to  become  thoroughly  posted  up  in  this 
delightful  and  profitable  branch  of  horticulture. —  Vermont  Farmer. 

Just  the  manual  for  a  beginner,  by  one  who  says  "  he  is  well  rewarded  in  the  success 
attained."  Adding,  "It  might  have  been  reached  in  half  the  time,  had  I  possessed  tht 
knowledge  imparted  to  the  reader  of  this  book." — Boston  Cultivator. 

Sent  Post-paid.     Price,  $1.25. 
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THE    AMERICAN 

Horticultural    Annual 

FOR     1868. 


.A.    Year-Book 
FOR    EVERY    HOME. 

The  second  number  of  this  serial  is  now  ready.  It  contains  i 
popular  record  of  horticultural  progress  during  the  past  year, 
besides  valuable  articles  from 

EMINENT    HORTICULTURISTS. 

Among  those  who  contributed  to  its  pages  are 


Hon.  Marshall  P.  Wilder, 
Peter  Henderson, 
Thomas  Meehan, 
Josiah  Hoopes, 
Wm.  S.  Carpenter, 
George  W.  Campbell, 
Doctor  Van  Keuren, 


Doctor  John  A.  Warder, 
S.  B.  Parsons, 
Jas.  J.  H.  Gregory, 
George  Such, 
Andrew  S.  Fuller, 
John  Saul, 
James  Vick, 


and  other  well-known  pomological  and  floriculture!  writers. 

The  engravings,  which  have  been  prepared  expressly  for  the 
work,  are  numerous,  and  make  it  the 

MOST    BEAUTIFULLY    ILLUSTRATED 

work  of  its  Kind  ever  published  in  this  or  any  other  country.  It 
contains  Tables,  Lists  of  Nurserymen,  Seedsmen,  and  Florists,  and 
other  useful  matters  of  reference.  Sent  post-paid.  Price,  fancy 
paper  covers,  50  cts ;  cloth,  75  cts. 

ORANGE   JUDD   &  CO., 

245   Broadway,   New-York 


THE    AMERICAN 

Agrlealt&rol  Am: 

FOR     1868. 


.A.    YearBook 
'Wanted   by   Everybody. 

This  volume  is  now  ready,  and  contains  much  of  interest  to 
every  agriculturist.  Besides  the  general  record  of  agricultural 
progress,  it  has  a  valuable  article  on 

Factory   Dairy   Practice, 

By  Gakdner  B.  "Weeks,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  American  Dairy- 
men's Association,  in  which  he  discusses  the  reasons  for  the  best 
practice  and  the  most  approved  apparatus,  buildings,  etc.,  fully  il- 
lustrated, and  is  equally  interesting  to  the  practical  dairyman  and 
to  tha  novice, 

Sewer9   and    Earth-Closets 

In  (Iitir  relations  to  Agriculture,  by  Col.  Geo.  E.  Waking,  Jr. 
Winter   Wheat, 

Describing,  with  engravings,  new  and  valuable  varieties  by  JOSEPH 
Harris  and  John  Johnston  ;  an  article  upon 

Scythes   and   Cradles, 

By  John  W.  Douglas,  (fully  illustrated ;)  also  articles  on  Horse- 
Breaking  and  on  Bitting  Colts,  by  Sam'l  F.  Headlt,  Esq..  (il- 
lustrated ;)  on  Recent  Progress  in  Agricultural  Science,  by  Prof 
S.  W.  Johnson  ;  on  Commercial  Fertilizers,  Veterinary  Medicine 
and  Jurisprudence,  Progress  of  Invention  Affecting  Agriculture, 
Valuable  Tables  for  Farmers  and  others,  etc. 

It  is  intended  that  the  work  shall  be  practical,  excellent  in  the 
beauty  of  its  illustrations,  and  in  its  adaptation  to  the  wants  of 
American  Farmers,  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind  heretofore 
published. 

In  its  general  features  it  is  like  the  Agricultural  Annual  for  1887, 
containing  an  Almanac  and  Calendar,  and  there  will  be  added  a 
list  of  dealers  in  Agricultural  Implements,  Seeds,  etc.  Sent  poet- 
paid.    Price,  fancy  paper  covers,  50  cts. ;  cloth,  75  cts. 

ORANGE   JTJDD   &   CO., 

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THE 


ANDEEW  S.  FULLER. 


NEW     AND      ENLARGED      EDITION. 


THE    STANDARD    WORK     . 

ON    THE    CULTIVATION    OF    THE    HARDY    GRAPE, 

AS   IT   NOT    ONLY   DISCUSSES   PRINCIPLES, 

BUT 

ILLUSTRATES    PRACTICE. 

Every  thing    is  made   perfectly  plain,  and.   its   teach- 
ings   may    "be    followed,    upon 

ONE    VINE    OR    A    VINEYARD 


The  following  are  some  of  the  topics  that  are  treated  t 

Growing  New  Varieties  from  Seed. 

Propagation  by  Single  Buds  or  Eyes. 

Propagating  Houses  and  their  Management  fully  described. 

How  to  Grow. 

Cuttings  in  Open  Air,  and  how  to  Make  Layers. 

Grafting  the  Grape — A  Simple  and  Successful  Method. 

Hybridizing  and  Crossing — Mode  of  Operation. 

Soil  and  Situation — Planting  and  Cultivation. 

Pruning,  Training,  and  Trellises — all  the  Systems  Explaihkd. 

Garden  Culture — How  to  Grow  Vines  in  a  Door- Yard. 

Insects,  Mildew,  Sun-Scald,  and  other  Troubles. 

Description  of  the  Valuable  and  the  Discarded  Varietiw. 


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LIST     OF 


RURAL     BOOKS 


PUBLISHED   AND   FOR  SALE  BY 


ORANGE     JUDD     &    CO., 
NO.     245    BROADWAY,    NEW   YORK. 


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American  Agricultural  Annual, paper  50 

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American  Horticultural  Annual. paper  50 

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American  Bird  Fancier 30 

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Bommer's  Method  of  Making  Manures  25 

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Breck's  New  Book  of  Flowers 175 

Buist'8  Flower  Garden  Directory 1  50 

Iiuist's  Family  Kitchen  Gardener...  1  00 
Cliorlton's  Grape  Grower's  Guide...     75 

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Flax  Culture 50 

French's  Farm  Drainage 1  50 

Field's  (Thos.  W.)  Pear  Culture 1  25 

Fuller's  Grape  Culturist 1  50 

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Fuller's  Strawberry  Culturist 20 

Gregory  on  Squash  Culture 30 


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Hop  Culture 40 

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Chemistry 1  50 

Leuchar's  How  to  Build  Hot-Houses  1  50 

Miles  on  the  Horse's  Foot 75 

Mohr  on  the  Grape  Vine 1  00 

My  Vineyard  at  Lak<Hew 1  25 

Norton's  Scientific  Agriculture 75      I 

Onion  Culture 20 

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"     cloth 60 

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Peat  and  its  Uses 1  35 

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2  vols each..  1  50 

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The  Agriculturist  Is  a  large  periodical  of  Thirty-two  pages,  quarto,  not  octavo, 
beautifully  printed,  and  filled  with  plain,  practical,  reliable,  original  matter,  Includ- 
ing hundreds  of  beautiful  and  instructive  Engravings  In  every  annual  volume. 

It  contains  each  month  a  Calendar  of  Operations  to  be  performed  on  the  Farm, 
In  the  Orchard  %nd  Garden,  in  and  around  the  Dwelling,  etc. 

The  thousands  of  hints  and  suggestions  given  in  every  volume  are  prepared  by  prac- 
tical, Intelligent  working  men,  who  know  what  they  talk  and  write  about.  The 
articles  are  thoroughly  edited,  and  every  way  reliable. 

The  Household  Department  Is  valuable  to  every  Housekeeper,  affording 
very  many  useful  hints  and  directions  calculated  to  lighten  and  facilitate  in-door  work. 

The  Department  for  Children  and  Yonth,  is  prepared  with  special  care 
not  only  to  amuse,  but  also  to  inculcate  knowledge  and  sound  moral  principles. 

TermSi- The  circulation  of  the  American  Agriculturist,  (about  150,000)  is  so 
large  that  it  can  be  furnished  at  the  low  price  of  $1.50  a  year ;  four  copies,  one  year,  for 
$5;  ten  copies,  one  year,  for  $12;  twenty  or  more  copies,  one  year.  $1  each;  6ingle 
copies,  15  cents  each.   An  extra  copy  to  the  one  furnishing  a  club  of  ten  or  twenty. 

TRY    IT    A    YEAR,. 

ORANGE    JTIDD    &    CO., 
Publishers  &  Proprietors, 


No.  245   Broadway,  New- York  City. 


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